Ex-El Monte Superintendent Awarded $700K In Bullying Lawsuit

EL MONTE, CA – A former El Monte Union High School District superintendent was awarded more than $700,000 in a lawsuit where she alleges she was bulled by a former Board of Education member and that the district did nothing about it.

The Los Angeles Superior Court panel returned the verdict late Friday in favor of Irella Perez, directing the EMUHSD to pay her $733,000, according to the clerk for Judge Michael Linfield.

Perez maintained she was tormented by former board member Maria-Elena Talamantes; she said Talamantes questioned how the plaintiff, a single mother, could be a good mom to her children while filling such a difficult job as leading a school district. Perez also alleged that despite being a woman herself, Talamantes preferred a man for the job.

Talamantes denied making such comments. Talamantes, who served on the board during the entire time Perez was superintendent, testified last week that the board's problems with the then-schools chief ranged from alleged improper uses of public funds to her inability to use proper grammar in communications – both internal and those sent to the community.

Perez – also vice president of the Whittier City School District Board of Education – said she tried without success to come to terms with Talamantes, a member of the EMUHSD board in 2012-17.

Perez was unanimously approved by the board as the district's superintendent in March 2015. She said she received a positive evaluation in October 2015, but was put on paid leave in March 2016 and fired five months later.

EMUHSD lawyer Dennis Walsh argued that Perez's firing was justified for a number of reasons, including spending of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds to send a mailer to area voters – but not parents – in September 2015. The brochure described the district's achievements and included quotes from board members at the time, Esthela Torres de Siegrist and Salvador Ramirez, prompting the Fair Political Practices Commission to fine the district, according to Walsh.

Walsh presented evidence that he argued shows it was actually Perez who bullied people and not the other way around.

Perez denied any wrongdoing regarding the mailer, saying the board had requested its distribution. She also denied allegations that she dubbed herself the "ruler" and the "queen" of the district.

City News Service and Patch staffer Emily Holland contributed to this post; Image via Shutterstock