Blind Cotati-Rohnert Park school board trustee settles with district over discrimination claim

A Cotati-Rohnert Park school board trustee who is blind agreed to drop a lawsuit against the district in exchange for footing his $37,500 legal bill and hiring special aides of his choice to assist him at meetings.

Tim Nonn, who was elected to the board in November, sued the school district in federal court in February after he said Superintendent Robert Haley and three board members barred his special aide from assisting him at school board meetings, violating state and federal disability discrimination laws.

Under the tentative agreement, which awaits a judge’s approval, district officials agreed to let Nonn hire and train an aide, but the person must be approved by the district. Nonn will cover the costs up front and be reimbursed $30 an hour for the time the aide spends at board meetings, helping him read through documents. He will receive an additional $330 monthly budget for the use of an aide outside board meetings.

The district, which denied any wrongdoing, also will pay $37,500 for Nonn’s Fremont-based attorney in the case, Timothy Elder, who specializes in disability discrimination cases.

Nonn called the settlement a win.

“I got my reader,” he said. Instead of suing, he added, “it could have been settled in a one-hour conversation.”

The National Federation of the Blind helped Nonn helped cover the upfront legal fees in the case. Chris Danielsen, the director of public relations, called the case “bizarre.”

“I’m glad that the district has come to its senses on this because it’s pretty standard,” Danielsen said. “It’s not an unusual accommodation to be requesting (a reader).”

Nonn campaigned for the board seat last year as a reformer. The legal dispute stemmed from his first public meeting in December, where he said board members refused to let Janet Lowery, a retired special education teacher who volunteers as his reader and scribe, sit next to him. Nonn said the board abruptly ended the meeting to avoid further public discussion of the dispute.

Nonn, who has been an outspoken critic of Haley even before he joined the board, said the actions amounted to a case of “political retaliation.” In his February suit, he named as defendants Haley and board members Tracy Farrell, Marc Orloff and Jennifer Wiltermood.

Farrell, the board president, said Friday the district tried to accommodate Nonn and offered him in December or January the “same thing” outlined in the tentative settlement.

“There was no need for a lawsuit, unfortunately,” she said.

Nonn said in the suit alleged the district suggested he turn to school employees and fellow board members for assistance at meetings, which his attorney argued was not practical as trustees are untrained, sit too far from Nonn and are busy filling their own duties during the meetings.

Nonn was diagnosed two decades ago with open angle glaucoma. He previously suffered from blindness in his left eye but lost much of his vision in the right eye after a surgery in September, according to the suit. Unable to see print, Nonn relies on assistance to access all sorts of materials, including documents and presentations.

Lowery, a former school employee and wife of a teacher who used to serve as union negotiator, will not be able to serve as his aide under the settlement, Farrell said.

The board wanted “someone neutral in regards to the district” to serve as Nonn’s aide, Haley said. The district decided to settle on the case in order to avoid further legal costs, he said. The district’s insurance carrier will cover most of the legal costs, but $12,500 will come out of the district’s budget, he said.

“Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for public agencies to be sued. We grapple with the cost of fighting lawsuits versus settling and saving the taxpayers money,” Haley said. “It is frustrating, but paying some amount of attorney’s fees to stop the suit and allow the district to move forward is what the board agreed to do.”

You can reach Staff Writer Eloísa Ruano González at 707-521-5458 or eloisa.gonzalez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @eloisanews.