Already facing two legal threats from the superintendent it fired earlier this year, Poway Unified School District has now been dealt another — this time in the form of a lawsuit from her former executive assistant.
The plaintiff, Amanda Marshall, is suing both Marian Kim Phelps and the school district, saying that Phelps harassed her for years with yelling, intimidation and manipulation and that the district didn’t protect her.
Marshall’s lawsuit adds to a growing pile of litigation that Poway Unified faces related to Phelps.
In November, a former Del Norte High softball player and her family sued both Phelps and the school district, saying Phelps harassed and intimidated her and others based on Phelps’ belief that they conspired not to applaud her daughter, Jessica, at a softball banquet when she won an MVP award.
The Union-Tribune learned last month that the Poway Unified school board, through a second investigation conducted by an outside attorney, found that Phelps had interfered in the school’s investigation of the softball matter. The student’s lawsuit similarly alleged that Phelps orchestrated and controlled the school’s investigation of the matter.
In April the school board decided unanimously to fire Phelps for cause after finding that she had influenced the investigation from the beginning, including suggesting witnesses to interview and asking to see a draft report before it was completed.
Phelps has denied the district’s findings and has asked a judge to reinstate her as superintendent. She has also threatened to sue the district based on her claims that the district painted her in a false light and breached her contract.
Now Marshall is entering the fray, two years after she stopped working for Phelps.
She said she is doing so to show that Phelps’ alleged treatment of the softball player is part of a long-standing pattern of intimidating and harassing behavior. Marshall is represented by the same attorney, Justin Reden, who represents the softball player.
Marshall said she hasn’t spoken previously about her experiences due to fear of retaliation.
“I can totally believe she did this,” Marshall said in an interview, referring to the softball player’s accusations against Phelps. “This is what she does to people.”
In an email, Phelps’ spokesperson Rolando Bonilla called the allegations in Marshall’s lawsuit “complete fabrications.”
Bonilla added: “(Phelps) appreciates the Poway Unified School District’s willingness to defend her in this lawsuit, as it demonstrates Dr. Phelps’ record of making the best decisions for students and families.”
A spokesperson for Poway Unified said the district does not comment on pending litigation.
Marshall retired from the district in 2022 after 22 years there, the last five of them working under Phelps.
The lawsuit claims Phelps frequently yelled at and verbally abused Marshall, and humiliated her by making derogatory comments about her performance and capabilities in front of other staff.
For example, the lawsuit alleges that Phelps had accused Marshall of conspiring with another former assistant in trying to poison Phelps. Marshall said there was never any attempt to poison Phelps.
The lawsuit says Phelps also harassed Marshall by, for example, taking away her access to Phelps’ work office and calendar, which made it harder for Marshall to do her job. The lawsuit claims Phelps was frequently absent from the district office and she had told Marshall to cover for her.
The lawsuit also alleges Phelps discriminated against Marshall based on her age and race.
According to the lawsuit, Phelps frequently asked Marshall, now 62, when she would retire and told Marshall, “If I were your age, I would retire.”
The lawsuit alleges Phelps made a derogatory comment about blond, blue-eyed women in front of Marshall, who is White and blond, which she said suggested discriminatory intent by Phelps.
Marshall said she retired five years earlier than planned because Phelps’ verbal abuse and intimidation made the job “intolerable.”
Phelps had also effectively forced her out, Marshall said in an interview, by saying she would submit a poor evaluation of her performance if she did not retire on her own.
“I was so devastated. I felt so humiliated. I was so bullied and harassed by her I couldn’t handle it anymore,” Marshall said.
Marshall says the district failed to provide her a work environment free of harassment and failed to take steps to protect her.
She is seeking damages, including for emotional distress and for pay and benefit increases she says she missed out on because she retired earlier than planned.
