Petrilli Lieutenants Also Considered Suit against Silberman

Court documents indicate that two of former Booker T Washington Academy Principal Peggy Petrilli's lieutenants, Alice Weinberg and Leigh McCauley, considered filing their own complaints against the Fayette County Schools.

Both women contacted attorney J Dale Golden to discuss potential claims, which they apparently decided against pursuing.

Because of this contact, Golden asserted that attorney-client privilege attached and the court allowed certain records to be sealed for in camera review. But subsequently, two affidavits from the women appeared in the court record.

Silberman's defense team cried foul, citing their previous unsuccessful attempts to gain access to statements made by the women. But,

"later, when confronted with the prospect of the dismissal of Plaintiff's complaints against Brenda Allen in her individual capacity, Plaintiff Pertrilli, in an effort to show "bad faith," filed in the record affidavits of Ms McCauley and Ms. Weinberg."

Defense now argues that placing the affidavits in the court record constitutes a waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the defense wants access to any "other writings related to their gripes or complaints about these defendants." The court is scheduled to hear the matter on December 12th.

So what did the women say in their affidavits?

According to McCauley,

"...on August 23, 2007, ...[at] Alice Weinberg's home...Peggy told me that Stu was not letting her go back to BTWA. Peggy went on to tell Alice and me that Stu had given her the ultimatum to resign or retire. Carmen Coleman, me director, also stated that Peggy had run out of chances, that Peggy didn't make a lot of friends in the District, and that Peggy needs to cooperate with Stu. Peggy said that Stu told her that if she went back the parents had threatened to go to the media and picket the school."

Weinberg's statement says essentially the same thing. Weinberg goes on to say,

"On Friday, August 24, 2007, and on Monday, August 27, 2007, Stu Silberman met with the BTWA teachers, the SBDM, and the leadership team in separate meetings. During these meetings, Stu explained that he had met with some parents who were very angry. He said the situation at BTWA was desperate and he kept repeating you are all broken. He also kept saying that we had a racial divide at BTWA. It was clear that Stu's lack of support of Peggy was caused by what he called the racial divide in the school. In the middle of the leadership team meeting, staff member Kim Nichols, who is African-American, got very upset and said that the white teachers at the school didn't know what it was like to be black. Stu acted as if her statements showed how big the problem was and how bad things were at the school. In the faculty meeting, when people were seated with different races in different places in the room, Stu pointed out how we were sitting and said it showed that there were racial problems in the school."

McCauley added,

"After the meeting Stu had with the SBDM, one of the SBDM parent representatives, Robin Ogbulu, came to me and told me that she really likes me, that she really wanted me to stay at that [sic] BTWA, and that if I wanted to stay at BTWA, then I needed to get in with Jessica Berry. Jessica Berry is on the SBDM and President of the PTA. These roles give her a lot of power at the school. Ms Berry was also continually present at the school throughout each academic year."

And this:

"Throughout the weekend (August 25-26, 2008), [sic] Carmen Coleman called me numerous times to reiterate that Peggy needed to contact Carmen of Stu and let them know what she had decided to do immediately. During my conversations with Carmen, it was clear that the ultimatum Peggy told me about - that Stu told her she had to resign or retire - was true. Peggy should cooperate because Stu has a lot of pull in the state, flawless reputation, and Peggy needed to keep their relationship positive for her benefit."