The California Supreme Court will take up a lawsuit involving the Sweetwater Union High School District and contractors who contributed in a pay-to-play scheme with school board members to win bids on contracts.
In its lawsuit the district seeks to recover $24 million it paid Gilbane and SGI for construction work that was never completed. The district won the civil case in superior court and in the court of appeals.
The case will now be heard in the California Supreme Court after attorneys for Gilbane filed a motion trying to dismiss the lawsuit because Gilbane argues that testimony in the criminal grand jury and facts released in the criminal case should not be used in support of the district’s lawsuit.
A court date has not been scheduled and both parties are in the process of submitting their briefs to the California Supreme Court.
Gilbane has also argued in its motion that their contributions to four of five board members involved in a pay-to-play scandal that rocked three South County school districts was protected under the First Amendment.
Attorneys for the Sweetwater district disagree and said that Gilbane was involved in illegal activity.
“We contended that the activity was illegal, which it seemed rather self evident to us given the people plead guilty,” said John Moot, who is part of the district’s legal team. “But Gilbane, nonetheless, is arguing that we would not prevail in our case because we cannot use this testimony from the criminal grand jury and the guilty pleas.”
Moot said the California Supreme Court has taken the case because it realizes how significant it is to the South Bay, as its decision will set a precedent.
The South Bay schools corruption scandal netted 15 defendants across three school districts. Sweetwater board members and district officials were involved in awarding construction contracts to Gilbane and SGI in exchange for theater tickets, lavish meals, and tickets to sporting events and many more gifts.
All defendants in the case, which also included officials from the San Ysidro School District and Southwestern College, plead guilty for receiving gifts above the legal requirement. Three of the 15 defendants plead guilty to felonies.
