BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
A former administrative assistant at the Palo Alto Unified School District says she was bullied by acting Superintendent Trent Bahadursingh and other district officials, according to a new lawsuit.
While working as an assistant to the superintendent, Victoria Maya said she heard from a coworker that Bahadursingh called her “the ‘P’ word” because she went on medical leave, according to the suit.
“After learning of Trent Bahadursingh’s anger towards her, she no longer felt safe to return to work,” said Maya’s lawsuit, filed on Feb. 9 in Santa Clara County Superior Court.
Bahadursingh declined to comment last week through spokeswoman Lynette White, who said the district will explore all legal options.
“The complaint advances sweeping allegations and claims across multiple legal theories, which the district categorically denies,” White said in an email. “These types of broad accusations can create immediate reputational harm to the multiple number of staff members and the district … We understand that anybody is entitled to file a lawsuit and we are confident that the full facts, history and context will not support the claims made.”
Maya started working at the district in accounts payable in 2015 and was promoted to assistant to the superintendent in 2017, the suit said.
Maya said she was micromanaged by Vicky Lao, executive assistant to the school board, even though Lao wasn’t her boss. Lao allegedly yelled, screamed and cursed at Maya on several occasions and former Superintendent Don Austin had to get involved in September 2018, the suit said
Lao allegedly chided Maya for taking time off for a surgery in September 2019, the suit said.
Maya said she filed a formal complaint with Austin and HR on Oct. 30, 2019.
“I have reached a point where I feel 1 am not performing to the best of my abilities because I am more worried and stressed and feel the need to walk on eggshells to not upset her, rather than to assist you,” the complaint said. “I am desperately hoping you can help.” But the district didn’t take action for another two years, the suit said.
Maya said she was subject to a humiliating “bait and switch” in July 2021, when Bahadursingh allegedly demanded she apply to be Chief Business Officer Carolyn Chow’s assistant.
Maya reluctantly applied for the position and went through the interview process but didn’t get the job – “despite the constant pressure to apply and “guarantee’ that she would be hired for it,” the suit said.
Maya said she felt like she had been tricked and set up to fail, and for the second time in her career at the district, she had suicidal ideations and frequent crying spells at work, the suit said.
Austin told Maya that he was “sorry they put you through that” and that he would talk to Bahadursingh, but nothing else was done, the suit said.
Maya was transferred to be General Counsel Komey Vishakan’s assistant in December 2021.
The district opened an investigation into Vishakan for alleged bullying in June 2022, the suit said. Maya said she was surprised by the investigation and testified in support of Vishakan, according to her suit.
The board voted to fire Vishakan for undisclosed reasons on Aug. 4, 2022.
Maya said Bahadursingh unfairly criticized her and publicly humiliated her in retaliation for supporting Vishakan.
Bahadursingh allegedly took projects away from Maya and made her go to outside events that were voluntary for everyone else, the suit said.
Maya said she frequently witnessed Bahadursingh refer to local female news reporters as “b*****” “stupid,” and similar derogatory terms, her suit said.
Maya said she experienced “extreme stress, panic and anxiety” and went on medical leave for six weeks starting on Oct. 10, 2022.
When Maya returned, Bahadursingh had stripped away most of her remaining responsibilities and told her she could no longer attend board meetings, the suit said.
Maya requested a second medical leave in February 2023 due to migraines and stomach issues caused by the intensified scrutiny, the suit said.
That’s when Maya allegedly heard from secretary Mayra Avalos that Bahadursingh had called Maya the “P” word, the suit said.
Maya resigned on April 17, 2023. She’s suing the district for allegedly failing to prevent harassment, discriminating against her, retaliating against her, violating medical leave laws, wrongfully terminating her and intentionally inflicting emotional distress.
Bahadursingh was Austin’s chief of staff and deputy superintendent until he was promoted to acting superintendent on Feb. 23, three days after Austin left the district with a $596,802 payout.
Maya’s lawsuit was filed by attorney Lori Costanzo, who specializes in employment law.
Maya is asking Judge Nahal Iravani-Sani to order the district to pay her and her attorneys and to approve new policies and trainings against bias, harassment, discrimination and retaliation.
The first hearing in the case is on July 23 in downtown San Jose.
Trent Bahadursingh is a chip off the Don Austin block. Don’t think for a moment that Mr. Austin was not fully aware of his loyal lieutenant’s actions. These two are bullies that wouldn’t last ten seconds on the streets, but were able to “ply their trade” for years within the 25 Churchill bubble. Trust me, Ms. Maya is not the only victim of these soon to be former PAUSD “leaders”.
Time to take your “Simple Wins” ideology somewhere else fellas.
Don’s buyout appeared to be more like an NDA and now this with Trent, seriously? How many other school districts have a chief of staff making almost $300,000? Sounds like the BOE better start getting into the weeds ASAP and find a new superintendent to clean house. With Don’s $500 rate, plus district lawyers, how much will this lawsuit against Trent cost whether it goes to trial or through another potential “settlement”?
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This guy was a main defendant if not the main defendant in the Colombo lawsuit and he is running the district? How is this even possible. What is happening with the PAUSD district, it’s turning into a reality show. This man is in charge of TILE NINE COMPLIANCE for PAUSD and it is because of his incompetence in that area that Colombo walked away with 3.25 million.
Another question: does this behavior not make this man UNFIT TO LEAD?
Now you’re saying the district screwed up with “TILE NINE COMPLIANCE”? On top of all these allegations, we now have construction defects related to tiles? Will this never end?
Yes 3.25 is a big #, but I’d like to see it framed as what it is – compensation for district failure. PC didn’t simply ‘walk away with’, he endured so much to get to that point.
TB is a chip off the DA block – but lacks DAs reasoning and calculation. I find him highly reactive, which likely served DA well. Meanwhile, TB has some staff below him that has been faithfully doing his dirty work and bidding. Those people need to make their choice in this moment, and the choice of allegiance should be clear.
Still, hard to step away when compensated so well and convinced that those outside 25 are the problem.
There is SO MUCH MORE you’re going to find out as these lawsuits continue marching forward. Please know it’s not a pile on… These people have been working toward resolution through all of these prescribed means. It’s only just now that they are being heard.
Oh boy more lawsuits.
Why was Don and his asset Trent both given above satisfactory evaluations even though many wrote the board about their “dealings” ? Were there some behind doors “deals” that we do not know of? Was there “honest graft” here? The public may never know. Like a couple coats of fresh paint, the stains and dirt of past board members as well as some current ones will never be fully known. A few however, are starting to bleed thru.
I meant Title Nine, sorry about the mess up and thanks for pointing it out.
Another hypocritical statement by Lynette White and PAUSD: “These types of broad accusations can create immediate reputational harm to the multiple number of staff members and the district”. Well the district and Don sure were not worried about Colombo’s reputation when they smeared his reputation in the Weekly rag newspaper and in that Unfit to Teach article over a false accusation. Does Lynette White even think about what is being put out there by PAUSD and the hypocrisy of it all.
How did the school board not know about the allegations against Bahadursingh when they promoted him to acting superintendent? Was this suit kept from the board? Or did the board just go along with the district’s position in this case without doing its own due diligence? You’d think that a board which had just paid $3.25 million to clean up Austin’s mess with Colombo would have been more cautious. And since Bahadursingh works for Austin in his consulting business, the board should have been leery of this conflict of interest. I think we have a really dumb board without any management experience. Hopefully we can replace some of them this fall.
Thank you, Daily Post, for reporting this story. The other paper in town seems to be the tool of Jennifer DiBrienza and Ken Dauber.
This is the direct result of Collins, Dauber, De Breenza, Ladomerak, and Dharap! They hired Don, they continually renewed his contract, gave him and his family life time health insurance, and ignored many “red flags”. Remember when it came to light that he was bullying the new board member at the time, Shana?! Or when he made fun of PAUSD for not letting him decimate th kids club program because he wanted to replace it with the for profit Right at School? Which has also been plugged in controversy. This new board may lack some experience, but it’s not in the ways people are suggesting! The previous board members had an unhealthy relationship with this superintendent and it’s been problematic since the beginning and many people knew it and many people were trying to call attention to it.
Crickets from Palo Alto Weekly on this crazy situation and no doubt in my mind that the Weekly is in back pocket of PAUSD! That’s why the Daily is considered real news, Price and his crew answer to no one and report the news regardless of optics etc..that is why the Weekly is considered amateur hour in the news world.
So with this story where is the outcry from Ken and Michelle Dauber. Michelle Dauber was very vocal about Colombo and what a “Pig” he was all over the Weekly forums, calling him a loser and pedi etc…all over unproven accusations that were eventually thrown out of court. Where is all their outrage with this? They can’t speak on it because they are the ones who put Don and Trent in power to do their dirty work. This is all turning into a House of Cards episode! For sure Austin’s payout was for him to go away quietly without chirping all the dirty deeds that went on during the Colombo scandal and look for Trent to be next. They both know all the secrets and Trent, like Don, will demand compensation to stay quiet. When I think of the PAUSD leadership, two in particular, I have to remind myself that those gangsters in the Goodfellas Movie wore suits and ties everyday also! What is sad is the majority of the PAUSD Board, especially past members, got played by Michelle and Ken Dauber and now the PAUSD community is paying the price. The Palo Alto realtors must be going crazy over all this.
Read the weekly this week? 4 ads for project bids. That’s two full pages. Who pays that bill? Tax payers. When was the last time a Palo Alto Company took a pausd bid? There are other media sources contractors use and certainly the Weekly is not the ones bidders check. I realize state law but I’d bet a solid wood nickel that PAUSD has not found the best price to advertise to save tax payers money.
No, I don’t read the weekly. I didn’t even know they still existed until I saw your comment. Haven’t seen that paper in years.
The current super and assistant did not create PAUSD’s culture. They were “only” able to thrive where: Anything and everything is possible.
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It’s about time people start suing this awful district. As a former employee you wouldn’t believe the evil that goes on in this district. The “union” works for the district office leaders and HR. They represent whatever they want not the employees. Even if you were getting harassed relentlessly by these people taking home 200k+ a year the union does nothing for you. If you work here you’re conditioned to shut up, take the harassment and let it slide or you will be forced out of your role and publicly humiliated. Every single person working in a position of power at 25 Churchill is pure evil and that’s how they get to that position. Only the worst get promoted. While the true hardworking good people get forced to quit, harassed, humiliated, and bullied. An outside person needs to come in to this role and clean house at 25 Churchill. There is no rehabilitation for these folks, they need to just start over.
I have heard the assistant superintendent, interim leader., is unethical and unintelligent. The Board needs to step up and remove these incompetent leaders. Allowing Don Austin to rule PAUSD for so many years was terrible. We elected the Board to take action and they need to do their job instead of befriending these poor leaders.
Where are the real journalists looking out for the Palo Alto community? It seems like the issues at the top of PAUSD appear to be common knowledge for a lot of employees and community members. These issues can never truly be fixed if they are never investigated or reported on. I mean come on, this should be really, really, low hanging fruit for all of you. Why haven’t local journalists sent FOIA requests to PAUSD to ascertain how many employees, and former employees have filed grievances, formal complaints, and even complaints to California Department of Industrial Relations in regards to bullying culture and retaliation? It’s common knowledge there has always been a buddy system when hiring, but there are possibly a few in management (more recent hires) that should have never gotten even a whiff of a their current PAUSD job, let alone a serious interview with their background. Again, very low hanging fruit for people to dig. We all want a better world, but how many people have the courage to stand up and speak out, even when their voice cracks? If the local media will not investigate or report on these ongoing issues, then the local taxpayers will need to start sending FOIA requests to PAUSD directly. It’s beyond time to clean house and rebuild with a culture of integrity and respect for PAUSD employees and their constituents starting at the top.
The culture of harassment and intimidation became widespread under Don Austin, and some really decent people played along out of fear. I was employed by PAUSD for 27 years, received excellent and thorough evaluations, and was respected by students, parents, and staff alike. None of that mattered to Austin and his lieutenants. They wanted me gone because I was willing to stand up for myself, and I “cost too much”. The harassment came in the form of “anonymous complaints”, exaggerated or trumped up reprimands, untenable schedules, and threats of further disciplinary action if I did not “behave”.
Fittingly, I was never properly evaluated in the final five years of my career, which coincides with Austin’s tenure. In fact, the last two principal’s I worked for, both under Austin and both directed to harass me, spent a grand total of a half hour observing my teaching over that time period. In other words, they had no idea what was going on in my classroom, but they saw fit to attack my teaching and classroom management methods through official channels. In that time no other administrator or department lead watched me teach either. Don Austin even falsely stated to me that he had no idea what was going on.
On top of being a poor leader, he is also a very bad liar.
One principal quit after four years, the other was asked to leave in less than three years once his dirty work was completed and the uniform complaints were becoming too numerous and too obvious for Austin’s comfort. This principal went on to another district and has since left in less than two years.
At my site stakeholders were beginning to sniff out the corruption, but for some reason, probably PR, the board decided to let it slide. As such, they now have a bigger PR mess on their hands, and probably dozens more victims considering coming forward. Honestly, I would be glad to serve as a witness in any legal action against Austin and his cronies. They should be held to account for the damage they have done.
Let’s hope some valuable lessons are learned, and better leadership is fostered in the future. Students, parents, staff, and the community at large deserve as much.
Bob, do you even read the paper?
Yes Alice, I understand your point, and yes I do read the paper. How long has Don been with PAUSD? And, now finally there’s major interest because Don got a paid, NDA seperation. But what has really changed? Trent is being sued and yet he will still keep the seat warm until a new superintendent is hired. How is Trent any better than Don? How far along is the BOE in the hiring process of a new superintendent? Who else is still employed within PAUSD management, brought in under Don and Trent, that have major red flags for similar, ongoing behavior towards employees? PAUSD can not truly move forward and focus on the main thing that should matter most, the actual students and the community, until the “rot” is removed. The BOE is going to have to roll up their sleeves and get into the weeds. There will be lots of work to do repairing PAUSD so we can begin the healing process and move forward together.
If Dave Price decided to do one of his outstanding investigative reports like he did with the San Mateo County Water District buyout a few years ago, the tax paying citizens of Palo Alto will be alarmed and amazed at the corruption that went on at 25 Churchill under Austin and his buddy Trent, who carried out the dirty work. Lives were ruined and the Colombo deal is just the final straw that unveiled what has been going on for years. At the very core of it all from day one of Austin’s tenure has been THE DAUBER’S! who got Dharap to do their dirty, horrendous deeds while always having that smooth, slick lawyer smile.
Question for everyone: Why have the Dauber’s been so quiet? Because they are hunkered in their bunkers knowing their corrupt agenda is now being exposed and coming to an end. I feel bad for Judge Persky, who got his career ruined by these people when he was only doing his job and recommended what the court probation office recommended. I guess it took someone like the “little guy” Colombo to finally come along and stand up to all this corruption and the Corrupt Goliath known as PAUSD! I have never meet Colombo but know some people who have taught and coached baseball with him and they all say he is hyper good and all over the place at times but all I know is he for sure has huge……for going toe to toe with this huge institution of corruption and all there law firms.
If you want a change in leadership, email board @ pausd.org and tell them to replace Mr. Bahadursingh with someone who will put an end to the abusive and toxic culture at 25 Churchill. The board won’t make any changes unless they think the community wants it. Do it before next week’s board meeting.