A woman who once was tasked with directing the El Monte Union High School District’s risk management program is now herself suing the district, alleging she was terminated by the Board of Education earlier this year in retaliation for seeking accommodations for cancer and for raising issues she believed to be violations of the law.
Leanne Morelli’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges disability discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination and failure to accommodate and engage in the interactive process. Morelli seeks unspecified damages in the suit filed Tuesday.
EMUHSD Superintendent Edward Zuniga said Wednesday that the district does not comment on pending litigation.
Morelli was hired in May 2022 as the district’s director of risk management and safety, a job in which she was entrusted to identify legal and safety risks so they could be corrected or eliminated. Morelli was diagnosed with cancer in 2024 and at least four other employees donated unused sick leave and time off so that she could continue having an income, the suit states.
However, an assistant superintendent of human resources prevented Morelli from using all of the donated time and used other employees to micromanage the plaintiff when she returned, the suit states. The assistant superintendent allegedly insisted on knowing where Morelli was at all times, sent people to spy on her and limited her lunch periods to a maximum 30 minutes.
Morelli discovered and reported what she believed was a disturbing video of a truck driving through a school campus that continually parked outside the school during all hours of the night and early morning, according to the suit. She learned that the truck belonged to the school’s girls’ basketball coach and that he was staying the night in the girls’ gym equipment room, the suit further states.
A “horrified” Morelli reported the “man cave” to the principal and the assistant principal and told them the coach must stop such behavior, the suit states. However, Morelli believes that the coach was not held accountable or reprimanded and remained working with the EMUHSD, the suit further states.
Morelli identified a possibly fraudulent workers’ compensation claim involving a maintenance worker seeking payments due to an alleged foot injury but who also was operating a taco stand business while he was off the job, the suit states. Morelli alleges that the school district knew of the employee’s outside business.
When Morelli reported to the district that workers were prohibited from holding outside jobs while on leave from the EMUHSD, the reaction was minimal and the employee was permitted to continue receiving benefits and operating the taco stand, the suit states.
Morelli believes the employee’s alleged preferential treatment was related to his having multiple other family members who also were district employees.
Morelli also objected to a former administrator playing Santa Claus and interacting with students during a planned event since he was a principal or assistant superintendent during a period of sexual abuse of district students, the suit states. Morelli was told that the former administrator would only be waving to students, but the plaintiff persisted with her concerns and on the day of the function the former administrator “suspiciously became ill” and someone else took his place, the suit states.
Morelli was put on paid administrative in February of this year, which she contends was punishment for needing medical accommodations for her cancer diagnosis and for raising or protesting issues such as the workers’ compensation case that she believed violated the law. The school board dismissed the plaintiff on May 7, according to the suit, which further states that Morelli has suffered both lost income and emotional distress.