ENCINITAS — The former executive director of the Canyon Crest Academy Foundation has sued the foundation and the San Dieguito Union High School District in Vista Superior Court for her alleged wrongful termination last year.
In the February lawsuit, former CCA Foundation executive director Joanne Couvrette said the foundation placed her on administrative leave in April 2024, at the urging of district and school administrators, due to concerns about a Facebook post she made.
Couvrette was officially terminated in May after leading the nonprofit for 12 years and overseeing the fundraising of millions of dollars for high school programming.
The complaint accuses the district and foundation of wrongful termination, breaching her contract, failing to pay wages upon termination, and interference with her economic and contractual relations.
“Plaintiff dedicated over a decade of her life to Defendants and performed her duties in a competent and diligent matter at all times herein. Throughout her employment, Plaintiff was successful in her duties, which was evidenced by the high revenue she consistently brought in for Defendants,” the complaint states.
Couvrette’s Facebook post, made on her personal account, referred to pro-Palestine university protesters as “terrorist sympathizers” and lamented the University of Southern California’s decision to cancel its graduation ceremony in relation to these protests.
“USC canceled their main graduation ceremony due to security concerns over the terrorist sympathizers’ ‘occupation.’ How sad for students and families to miss this beautiful event. USC graduation was a pretty special day for us in 2019. I would have been devastated to have missed that special day,” the post stated.
Shortly afterward, parents of a Palestinian student at CCA forwarded a screenshot of the post to principal Brett Killeen and district Superintendent Anne Staffieri. They called Couvrette’s comments racist and offensive to Arab and Palestinian people and demanded that the district address the situation.
Couvrette also saw the email and said she informed then-foundation board president Kimberly McSherry about the situation and asked her what to do. McSherry initially expressed sympathy about the situation and said Couvrette was entitled to her opinion.
Later that day, however, Couvrette said she received an email from McSherry stating that she was being placed on administrative leave.
Couvrette said this was done at the urging of principal Killeen, who had a conversation about the post with Staffieri in which the superintendent was “ballistic.” Members of Couvrette’s staff also confirmed to her later that “SDUHSD put the wheels in motion” for her to be placed on administrative leave, the suit says.
A month later, in May, Couvrette was officially terminated by a majority vote of the foundation’s board of directors.
The lawsuit states that Couvrette was not speaking in her capacity as foundation director when she made the post and that the district and foundation’s actions have caused her substantial loss in earnings, emotional distress and damage to her reputation.
“The issue is whether Ms. Couvrette was terminated for illegal reasons, which we think we can prove,” said attorney Josh Gruenberg, who is representing Couvrette.. “She was terminated for writing a Facebook post. For the district to terminate her, that’s a violation of her First Amendment rights, because they are a public entity.”
CCA Foundation Board President Sandra Sincek said the foundation expects a judgment in its favor and will continue focusing on providing educational programming and support for students.
“The Canyon Crest Academy Foundation (CCAF) and its board of directors remain committed to enriching the experience of every student it serves, every day. We do not believe that this lawsuit has merit, and we are confident we will obtain a favorable judgment. As this is an active lawsuit and in accordance with California law, CCAF is obligated to protect the privacy of its past, present and future employees and will not be able to answer further questions at this time,” Sincek said.
A spokesperson for the San Dieguito Union High School District declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The suit also accuses the foundation of failing to pay Couvrette’s wages upon termination, noting that she was paid out the remainder of her PTO around 30 days later rather than within 72 hours of termination. Gruenberg said this violates state law.
Couvrette’s suit also claims that the foundation was required to terminate her for cause, which they failed to do. However, the contract attached to the lawsuit expressly allows for both termination with and without cause.
When it comes to termination without cause, the contract states that the employee may be entitled to a severance payment equivalent to four months of base salary if the employee agrees to release all current or future claims against the foundation.
While her dismissal did not garner much attention at the time, Couvrette and the CCA Foundation became the source of intense community scrutiny a few months later when two Canyon Crest Academy seniors published a scathing online report alleging financial mismanagement within the foundation.
The report alleged that the foundation’s largest expense is left unexplained within financial documents and that Couvrette failed to disclose her salary to the IRS for several years. She was the highest-paid foundation executive director in the school district, making over $161,000 at the time of her dismissal.
The school district has since launched an audit of all district foundations to ensure legally sound and transparent practices.
