Getz
Two Beaumont Independent School District trustees have filed a petition for injunctive relief against the district and its attorney, seeking contract information in regards to the hiring of new superintendent Timothy Chargois.
Tom Neild and Mike Neil filed the petition against BISD and Beaumont attorney Tanner Hunt of the Wells, Peyton, Greenberg and Hunt on May 16 in Jefferson County District Court.
According to the petition, Hunt violated the trustees' rights by not providing them with documents concerning Chargois' employment contract.
Hunt was retained by BISD to handle negotiations with Chargois.
During the negotiations, the board took the stance that any salary increase would be the board's decision and not part of the contract, due to the "wide-spread public dissatisfaction" with BISD Superintendent Carrol Thomas' contract, which "resulted in automatic salary increases and the largest salary of any superintendent in the state of Texas," the suit states.
However, Channel 6 News broke a story that the May 1 agreement executed between Chargois and the district contained a provision for automatic salary increases.
"Upon hearing the media story ... plaintiffs learned they had been duped," the suit states, adding that on May 4 Neild and Neil requested a list of contract documents and communications between the parties.
Four days later, some, but not all, of the documents were given to the trustees, prompting the plaintiffs to seek a restraining order to stop the defendants from destroying the sought after information.
The plaintiffs are also requesting that the court force the defendants to provide all information related to the contract and award attorney's fees.
Beaumont attorney Michael Getz represents them.
Judge Milton Shuffield, 136th District Court, is assigned to the case.
Case No. D192-449