Did California Teachers Association
(CTA) director Jim Groth actually file
the grievance below, as he claims,
when he was grievance chair for
Chula Vista Educators, or did he
orchestrate an elaborate hoax?
Chula Vista Educators President
Gina Boyd testified during her deposition
that the grievance was never filed, even
though this grievance was sent to
Maura Larkins by the teachers union.
I discussed this with my principal/supervisor on ______________ __________
Date Signature of grievant ________________________
CVE/Grievance Level II
CVE Grievance Chair Jim Groth failed to fulfil his legal obligations. If he had honestly
pursued the grievance (below), instead of perpetrating a hoax on Maura Larkins, the
truth would have been revealed about illegal actions of Assistant Superintendent
Richard Werlin and teacher Robin Donlan, and the entire situation would have been
rectified without litigation.
GRIEVANCE REPORT FORM LEVEL II
To be used only after informal conference has been held and grievance is not resolved, or in cases where the
grievance is initiated at Level II.
Type Only
Principal/Supervisor ____________________________
Gretchen Donndelinger
The District violated Article 38.1 of the Agreement when it issued a
letter of reprimand to Maura Larkins without just cause on April 4,
2001.
Proposed remedy to grievance:
The District shall:
1) Provide written, detailed rationale for why the employee was
placed on Administrative Leave on February 8, 2001.
2) Provide specific written details of the behaviors alleged to be
"irrational and unprofessional."
3) Modify the content of the 4/4/01 memorandum by eliminating
completely the second paragraph.
4) Any other remedies mutually agreed to by the parties.
Last Name First Name M.I. Date _____
Groth Jim 5/22/01
School/Department Position ___________
CVE for Castle Park Elementary CVE Grievance Chair
Jim Groth's hoax led Chula Vista Educators and Chula Vista Elementary School
District down a path that has cost both himself and CVESD board members Cheryl
Cox, Bertha Lopez, Pam Smith, Larry Cunningham and Pat Judd any claim they might
have had to being honest or ethical public servants.
Donlan and other abusive teachers were transferred out of Castle Park Elementary
in 2004, after they had done enormous harm to the children of the school.
Jim Groth preferred to take a path
that included multiple felony
cover-ups rather than to admit
that a close personal friend of
CVE President Gina Boyd, Robin
Donlan, was guilty of a couple of
misdemeanors.
Teachers Robin Donlan and Linda Watson continued to cause trouble at Castle Park
Elementary for three more years.
Asst. Superintendent Richard Werlin was covering up his own as well as Robin
Donlan's illegal actions. Robin Donlan should have been transferred out of Castle
Park Elementary in 2001. Werlin left the district in 2003.
On April 4, 2001, the day after reciving Larkins' fax, the district asked Maura Larkins
to return to work, but began to create a paper trail with false accusations to
cover-up its illegal actions of February 12, 2001.
This grievance was a hoax, created to fool Maura Larkins into thinking the union was representing her. Jim
Groth was rewarded for his dishonesty by CTA, which has a policy of supporting local leaders no matter what they
do, and is now a member of CTA's board of directors.
In order to keep Larkins unaware
of the role CVE was playing in the
Larkins case, CVE president Jim
Groth played a clever trick on CVE
member Maura Larkins. Jim
Groth, who was then the
grievance chairman, and is now a
director of CTA, with the help of
Executive Director Tim O'Neill and
then-President Gina Boyd,
convinced Larkins that he was
representing her. He was actually
trying to prevent her from figuring
out that CVE and certain teachers
had committed crimes against
her. CVE was supporting the
teachers who had made the
accusations, Linda Watson and Jo
Ellen Hamilton. The motive was
the upcoming election of Gina
Boyd, and the friendship of Gina
Boyd with Linda Watson and the
originator of the potential
murderer allegation, Robin Donlan.
At the same time, the union got
busy trying to create a fake paper
trail to cover up what had
happened. The grievance below
was created to fool Maura Larkins
into thinking that the union was
representing her. She was told not
to come to the grievance meeting,
because it would be in her "best
interest" not to come. There
actually was no grievance meeting.
CVE grievance chair Jim Groth's grievance (below) was never filed, according to the sworn testimony of CVE
President Gina Boyd.
It may or may not have been filed. In fact, the district responded to it.
One thing is clear. The entire grievance process was a charade created to fool Maura Larkins, with the purpose of
hiding CVESD's and CVE's involvement in crimes initiated by teachers.
Chula Vista Elementary School
District, particularly Richard Werlin,
worked closed with Jim Groth, Tim
O'Neill and Gina Boyd, wasting
close to half a million in taxpayer
dollars to cover up misdemeanors
which would never have resulted in
penalties for anybody.
Jim Groth worked with Asst. Supt. Richard Werlin to
perpetrate a hoax and cover up crimes
On April 3, 2001 Maura Larkins figured out that the district had committed a crime
against her (violation of Labor Code section 432.7). She sent a letter with a copy of a
restraining order against Kathleen Elton to the district and to CVE. The district and CVE
realized that the woman whose allegations they had relied on when they had taken
action against Maura Larkins seven weeks earlier was actually an unreliable
individual. But the district did not apologize. It tried to create a paper trail that
would cover-up what had happened, and justify the action by fabricating new
allegations.
On February 12, 2001, CVESD teacher Maura Larkins was told not to report to work
because two teachers reported she might kill them.
The teachers union pretended to help Larkins, although it turned out that the leaders
of the union had been helping the teachers who had made the allegations.
Jim Groth preferred to
take a path that included
felony cover-ups
Chula Vista Elementary
School District
Below: Hoax Grievance by Jim Groth and CTA and hoax follow-up letters by CVE
Presidents Jim Groth and Gina Boyd and Executive Director Tim O'Neill of Chula
Vista Educators
Richard Werlin, Superintendent Libia Gil, and CTA
executive director Tim O'Neill all wrote letters to help pull
off the hoax.
Jim Groth knew the truth when he published the following in March 2008:
"CTA works hard to ensure your rights are protected.
"A member's rights come through the contract bargaining by SDEA and through
laws and education code.
"If a right is violated, CTA provides members resources to defend their rights. "
In fact, Jim Groth made sure that Maura Larkins rights were violated, that the
law was disobeyed, and that absolutely no resources were provided to defend
Maura Larkins. The same was true in the case of Danielle Cozaihr.
Mr. Groth further writes:
"Members also receive ... protection of due process rights, and free legal
consultations."
Jim Groth knows that this is not true in many cases. It all depends on what CTA
officials feel to be in their own interest.
Mr. Groth also warns:
"Non-members will not be given access to CTA legal resources."
At least they don't pay thousands and thousands of dollars which will then be
used to pay for lawyers who work to deny their rights!
California Teachers Association head counsel Beverly Tucker
became involved in the cover-up on April 30, 2001.
Chula Vista Educators
violated its own bylaws
to keep the truth
covered up.
CTA's top brass has been
involved in multiple cover-ups
Next, Rick Werlin sent a response.
So, was the grievance filed or not? Did Gina Boyd's lawyers, who included CTA
head counsel Beverly Tucker and Michael Hersh, give her bad instructions
during her deposition? Did they suborn her perjury? Here is Gina Boyd's sworn
testimony on the matter:
Richard Werlin was assigned by
Superintendent Libia Gil to
investigate himself.
CVESD board members Cheryl
Cox, Pamela Smith, Bertha Lopez,
Patrick Judd and Larry
Cunningham found this behavior
to be appropriate.
How else could they cover up
crimes by CVESD?
It is odd that CVESD submitted the
above UNSIGNED GRIEVANCE to
the Office of Administrative
Hearings as its Exhibit 26.
CVESD must have copied the
grievance provided by Maura
Larkins, instead of a grievance
that had actually been filed, which
would, of course, have been
signed by Jim Groth.
Was a grievance signed by Jim
Groth on behalf of Maura Larkins
actually received by the district?
The answer is hard to determine
when both CVESD and CTA were
suborning perjury of their
witnesses.
Did CVESD (with Lowell Billings
as superintendent and Rick Werlin
as Billings' faithful liaison with
Mark Bresee of Parham & Rajcic)
submit a hoax grievance and hoax
responses to that grievance?
Or did CTA employee Gina Boyd
commit perjury when she said the
grievance was never filed?
The following two pages are Exhibit 14 in Gina Boyd's 2004 deposition.
Here is a clear transcription of this grievance:
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CVE Executive Director Tim O'Neill ignored Maura Larkins' calls and faxes, until he
finally decided he had better pretend to support Larkins. In July 2001, Tim O'Neill
sent the following disingenuous letter to Libia Gil. It's shocking to realize that
even though he could clearly express the wrongfulness of the situation, he
continued to help Libia Gil cover up crimes.
CVESD Superintendent Libia Gil covered up multiple violations of the law by
assigning Richard Werlin to investigate himself.
And CTA supported her. Why? It turned out CTA was involved in the wrongdoing
from the beginning.
Libia Gil covered up crimes by assigning Richard Werlin to
investigate himself.
< < < It turned out that Mr. O'Neill wrote this letter in an effort to convince Maura Larkins that she was being represented by CTA. But according to sworn testimony by CVE president Gina Boyd, the CTA grievance was never filed. Hoax? Yes. It turned out that Tim O'Neill and CTA were helping the district cover up wrongdoing against Maura Larkins.
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< < < It turned out that the grievance Libby Gil is talking about in this letter had never been filed, according to sworn testimony by CVE president Gina Boyd. Neither CTA nor CVESD ever produced a signed copy of the grievance in question. Hoax? Yes.
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< < < It turned out that Jim Groth never filed this grievance, or at least never wanted a positive response. Hoax? Yes.
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< < < This is just a clearer copy of the above grievance. Hoax? Yes.
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< < < When she was under oath Gina Boyd stated that this grievance was never filed. Hoax? Yes--at least by Gina Boyd.
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< < < When she was under oath Gina Boyd stated that this grievance was never filed. Hoax? Yes.
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If you guessed that every single document on this page was a hoax, you are
correct. Neither CTA nor CVESD ever produced a signed copy of the
grievance in question.
But is it possible the grievance really was filed?
Yes, but that leaves us to conclude that Gina Boyd committed perjury.
Which is it? Why would anyone commit a felony to cover up a silly hoax?
Answer: They wouldn't.
These people were covering up a lot more than one silly hoax.
Which documents are hoaxes?
The five documents below look quite official, don't they? You may be
surprised.
If you guessed that every single document on this page was a hoax, you
are correct. Neither CTA nor CVESD ever produced a signed copy of the
grievance in question.
But is it possible the grievance really was filed? Yes, but that leaves us to
conclude that Gina Boyd committed perjury. Which is it? Why would
anyone commit a felony to cover up a silly hoax?
Answer: They wouldn't. These people were covering up a lot more than
one silly hoax. (For further explanation of hoax, see Did CVESD Violate
EERA?)
Chula Vista Elementary School District
was represented by attorney Mark Bresee
at the time these documents were created.
CVE President Gina Boyd wrote to Maura Larkins that the grievance was filed on May 22, 2001.
Jim Groth and Tim
O'Neill, Masters of
Irony?
[Note: When the shoe was on
the other foot, and Jim Groth's
teacher allies were
transferred out of the very
same school that Maura
Larkins worked at, suddenly
Jim Groth and Tim O'Neill
changed their tune. Now they
thought it was wrong not to tell
a teacher why she was being
transferred, even though this
time the superintendent
worked far harder to obey the
contract, actually meeting with
the transferred teachers.
O'Neill had told Maura Larkins
that a superintendent
conference was not required
until after her transfer had
been completed.]
Article from San
Diego Union Tribune:
Contract broken in transfer of
5 teachers
Superintendent needed to give
reason, ruling finds
By Chris Moran
February 11, 2006
CHULA VISTA – Chula Vista's
elementary schools
superintendent violated union
contract rules by not explaining
to five Castle Park Elementary
School teachers why he
transferred them to other
schools in 2004, an arbitrator
has ruled.
Only one of the five, first-grade
teacher Nikki Perez, has
returned to the school. Jim
Groth, president of the teachers
union, said the other four
teachers declined to return
because of the disruption of
switching schools mid-year.
Tom Cruz, Chula Vista
Elementary School District's
assistant superintendent for
human resources, agreed that
a mid-year transfer would be
disruptive but said the district
had to follow the letter of the
arbitrator's ruling.
The ruling on Dec. 21 states
that the teachers are entitled to
reinstatement to their old jobs
“commencing with the next
semester.” In Chula Vista, that
meant Jan. 30.
The arbitrator upheld the
authority of Chula Vista
Superintendent Lowell Billings
to move teachers from school
to school. But the district's
contract with Chula Vista
Educators requires Billings to
have a “conference” with each
teacher.
Billings met with each of the five
teachers, but did not explain his
decisions other than to say, “It
is in the best interests of the
educational program,” the
ruling states.
The arbitrator ruled that the
contract does not allow the
superintendent to repeat this
“as a mantra” in meeting with
the teachers.
“This was not a 'conference,'
as that word is defined, but a
unilateral ukase,” the
arbitrator wrote.
“To this day, the five teachers
don't know why they were
administratively transferred,”
Groth said.
The case isn't over. The union
also seeks payment to Perez
and former Castle Park
teachers Stephenie Petitt,
Victoria Singleton, Robin
Donlan and Peggie Myers for
expenses related to their
transfers. These include time
spent packing and unpacking
and the purchase of teaching
materials needed, as some of
them changed grades.
The five teachers had been
active at Castle Park on the
school site council, which
governs the school, and the
budget committee, which
makes recommendations on
how to spend money.
Then-Principal Ollie Matos
testified that several of the
teachers refused to cooperate
with changes he wanted to
make to improve the school, the
arbitrator's ruling states.
Billings made the transfers.
Matos has since left Castle
Park to become director of
educational services at Lemon
Grove School District. Castle
Park has had nine principals
and interim principals in just
over a decade.
Jim Groth's Hoax Grievance
Jim Groth has been on CTA's board of directors since 2007, perhaps
as a reward for his actions covering up wrongdoing by teachers and
administrators at CVESD
< < < Maura Larkins added this note later.
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< < < Gina Boyd clearly states that Jim Groth signed the grievance and gave it to Richard Werlin.
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< < < It turned out that Mr. O'Neill wrote this letter in an effort to convince Maura Larkins that she was being represented by CTA. But according to sworn testimony by CVE president Gina Boyd, the CTA grievance was never filed. Hoax? Yes. It turned out that Tim O'Neill and CTA were helping Rick Werlin and the district cover up wrongdoing against Maura Larkins.
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< < < This is the original of the letter at the top of the page.
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Answer to question at top of page
< < < Regarding the odd black areas on each side of the fax: who knows why Chula Vista Educators kept these interesting features on its faxes for an extended period of time?
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Document #1
Document #2
Document #3
Document #4
Maura Larkins originated this letter, but the handwritten responses were made by Gina Boyd and faxed back to Maura Larkins
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Gina Boyd contradicted her own written statements when she was under oath. Hoax? Yes.
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Document #5
Document #1 (same as document at top of page)
[Maura Larkins note June 9, 2010: I tried the link above, and discovered that all
mention of Jim Groth has been completely erased from the SDEA site.]
San Diego Education Report
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San Diego
Education Report
San Diego Education Report
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San Diego
Education Report
Who hacked this site to conceal Jim Groth's actions?
This page has been hacked repeatedly.
Also see: