The Newberg-Dundee school district’s legal issues will continue for the foreseeable future, following word that one particular case will advance to a state court.
Legal counsels for the district and the three former and one current conservative members of the school board indicated in early June their intent to take their case to the Court of Appeals.
There, they will argue that Yamhill County Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Easterday erred in early May when she ordered former board chairman Dave Brown, former vice-chairman Brian Shannon, former board member Renee Powell and current board member Trevor DeHart to reimburse the roughly $28,000 in legal fees incurred when the four hired Tyler Smith as supplemental counsel in 2021.
Easterday’s finding was based on an earlier ruling that the four violated public meetings laws by gathering outside of open session to consider hiring Smith, despite knowingly acting in violation of state laws and without conferring with the other three members of the board.
Defendants’ attorneys Robert Steringer and Chelsea Pyasetskyy filed motions in early June signifying their intent to seek redress at the Court of Appeals in the case of Woolsey et al vs. the district and the four board members. The notices do not spell out the counsels’ reason for filing the appeal, and neither did they provide comment, other than Steringer’s explanation of the process.
“From a process standpoint, plaintiffs typically would not file a response to the notice of appeal,” he said in an email. “There are several more steps in the appellate process (including preparation of the trial court record and the filing of appellants’ briefs) before the responding party is required to file a substantive response.”
Unlike the Oregon or U.S. Supreme Courts, the state court cannot choose whether to hear the case or not, he added.
“The Court of Appeals does not have discretion on whether to hear the appeal,” Steringer said.
Judy Snyder, one of two attorneys for the seven plaintiffs who filed the complaint against the former school board members, did take the opportunity to comment on the appeal.
“The decisions made by Judge Cynthia Easterday during trial and the extensive pretrial and posttrial proceedings were made after thorough briefing by the parties and oral argument on the legal issues,” the attorney said in an email. “Judge Easterday was careful and thoughtful in making her rulings; her rulings consistently followed the law. Plaintiffs are confident that the decisions made by Judge Easterday will be affirmed on appeal and that the appeal will only cause the district and the individual defendants to incur more in attorneys’ fees and costs.”
Snyder explained the appeal process going forward for her clients: “We will file an appearance for the plaintiffs in the appeal. After the defendants, who are the appellants, file their appellate briefs and the trial record, the plaintiffs, who will then be the respondents, will file a responsive brief. The appellants then are entitled to file a reply brief. Thereafter, the case will be scheduled for oral argument before the Court of Appeals. … After oral arguments, the court of appeals will take the matter under advisement until it has reached a decision. A written opinion is then issued.”
The process will take up to 18 months, Snyder added.
Defendants contest plaintiffs’ legal fees
In mid-May, the law firm representing the seven plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit in the case submitted a statement for fees and costs in Yamhill County Circuit Court. They are seeking $370,118 for the work of three attorneys and one paralegal over the course of more than a year of representing their clients, who are all Newberg residents.
Two weeks later Pyasetskyy and Steringer asked Easterday to deny the plaintiffs’ request for legal fees and costs, characterizing them as unreasonable and not supported by case law.
In her brief, Pyasetskyy argued that should Easterday decline to waive the fees, that they be paid by the school district rather than the individual defendants, saying that was customary under state law.
Steringer concurred. “Under the statute, any award of attorney fees would be against the public body, in this case the Newberg school district,” Steringer wrote in his brief. “Then, the individual defendants would be jointly and severally liable to the district, not the plaintiffs.”
Steringer explained in an earlier story that if a judgement was made against the school district, it could then sue the four former board members for the damages.
Steringer and Pyasetskyy requested that Easterday reduce the amount of the attorney fees and cost to roughly 10% of that asked by Snyder. Both defense counselors also said the awarding of attorney fees is at the judge’s discretion and should only be for theories on which the plaintiffs’ prevailed, which was that the four defendants met in a quorum to discuss hiring Smith. Easterday ruled against the plaintiffs on other aspects of the case.
Snyder has until June 20 to respond to the defendant’s objections. A hearing on the issue is tentatively scheduled for July 15.
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