Former Aventura charter school principal wins $155 million award in lawsuit over firing | Miami Herald

LATEST NEWS

NOVEMBER 5, 2012 10:41 AM

Former Aventura charter

school principal wins $155
million award in lawsuit over
ring
HIGHLIGHTS

Katherine Murphy helped found the municipal

charter school. Her ring in 2006 led to a
lawsuit, alleging harassment, unlawful ring and
breach of contract.
BY Laura Isensee

The ousted principal of an Aventura charter

school has won a $155 million award in a
lawsuit claiming her firing was not only without
cause, but ruined her health and career
prospects.
The verdict came late Friday after a month-long
trial and years after Katherine Murphy lost her
job as principal of Aventura City of Excellence
School.
But the legal case is far from over, with no
certainty that Murphy will receive any of the
money.
The jury sided with Murphy that Aventura City

http://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article1944276.html

Former Aventura charter school principal wins $155 million award in lawsuit over firing | Miami Herald

Manager Eric Soroka and the schools registrar,

Nicole Monroe, conspired to ruin her reputation
and that the charter company violated an oral
contract with her, among other charges.
Lawyers for Soroka and Charter Schools USA
have asked Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Rosa
Rodriguez to overturn the jury verdict and rule
against the principal. Hearings are set for
Wednesday.
The jury verdict is contrary to the evidence
presented at trial, and we are confident that
Mr. Sorokas motion will dispose of the
lawsuit, said Michael Burke, an attorney for
Soroka.
The judge could also reduce the award.
More often than not, you dont see that many
verdicts of $155 million actually being paid by
governmental entities, said Murray Greenberg,
a former Miami-Dade county attorney and
professor at Florida International University.
The principals high-profile legal team, led by
Richard Burton and Ben Kuehne, will take all
legal opportunities to enforce the jurys entire
amount, which includes $500,000 in punitive
damages against Soroka and $60,000 against
Charter Schools USA for breaking an oral
agreement.
The award amount shows the jurys extreme
outrage at the evidence of the defendants
mistreatment, humiliation and attempt to ruin
the reputation of Dr. Murphy, an esteemed
educator whose life is now a shadow of what it

http://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article1944276.html

Former Aventura charter school principal wins $155 million award in lawsuit over firing | Miami Herald

was before, Kuehne said. The jury saw what

happened in this case and was very measured
in their condemnation of all of these
defendants.
Murphys relationship with Aventura goes back
to 2003, when she left a senior management
position with Charter Schools USA to help
found the new K-8 charter.
The school is funded with tax dollars but is
operated by the city of Aventura and Charter
Schools USA. The Aventura City Commission
serves as its governing board. Charter Schools
USA, which runs about a dozen South Florida
charter schools, acts as the managing company.
Murphy was hired at a $89,500 salary with the
city and another $40,000 as a consultant with
the management company. Quickly, the
Aventura school got A grades from the state, a
long waiting list for admission and even a visit
from then-Gov. Jeb Bush.
In December 2006, Murphy was abruptly fired.
The reason, according to the lawsuit, stemmed
from the accusation that a fifth-grader was
allowed admission without going through the
wait list. Soroka blamed Murphy and accused
her of taking illegal kickbacks to enroll the
student, Jake Norman, according to the suit.
Soroka fired her in a phone call and charged
that she f---ing took money from Jake
Normans parents to enroll Jake in the school,
didnt you? ... and if you come back, the entire
staff will leave ... they do not like you,
according to the suit.

http://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article1944276.html

Former Aventura charter school principal wins $155 million award in lawsuit over firing | Miami Herald

Even before her termination, Murphy alleged

that Soroka regularly called her names like
whore and slut and ridiculed her for
attending events with Aventura city
commissioners.
Murphys lawsuit also claimed that Soroka and
Monroe, an employee of Charter Schools USA,
defamed the principal, interfered with her
business relations and conspired to defame her.
Other counts in the suit include:
* That Soroka inflicted emotional distress
* That Charter Schools USA breached an oral
agreement
* That Soroka kept her personal property,
including Beanie Babies and family books that
she had left in her office. He threatened arrest
if she returned.
In 2007, Murphy first sued in federal court; the
case was sent to state court.
In calculating the damages, the jury awarded
separate amounts, ranging from $5,000 to
$20.9 million, for damages related to different
counts.
In their deliberations, jurors also considered if
Soroka and Monroe were acting outside the
scope of their employment. In some cases, such
as conspiracy to defame, the jury decided
Soroka acted outside his work, Monroe did not.
Kuehne said the jury decision sends a wake-up
call to school boards and government officials
to be careful about contracts and who runs
schools.

http://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article1944276.html

Former Aventura charter school principal wins $155 million award in lawsuit over firing | Miami Herald

Government bureaucrats without educational

backgrounds have no business running schools
and being supervisors to principals, he said.
In a legal filing, Burke said none of Sorokas
comments were defamatory and noted that
public officials who make statements within the
scope of their duties are absolutely immune
from defamation charges.
The truth is that the city manager has done
nothing wrong concerning Dr. Murphy, and has
only acted in the best interests of the city, said
David Wolpin, an attorney with Weiss Serota
Helfman Pastoriza Cole & Boniske who
represents Aventura.
Ed Pozzuoli, general counsel for Charter
Schools USA, said there was no contract
between the company and Murphy. There are
grounds potentially that the case would be
simply be dismissed and the judge would grant
a verdict in favor of Charter Schools USA, he
said.
Kuehne said that because of the firing and
fallout from it, Murphy, 60, has not been able
to find work in the education field and has
suffered poor health, even being hospitalized
for three months.
Her school is a model school that they have
used and continue to benefit from all the work
done by Dr. Murphy not withstanding their
effort to get rid of her like yesterdays dirty
laundry, he said.

http://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article1944276.html