Phil Shar, the fired West Mifflin girls' varsity basketball coach who won a seat on the school board via a write-in campaign in November, has filed suit against the school district alleging that he was wrongfully terminated as coach and that his constitutional rights to free speech were violated.

The suit, filed just before Christmas by attorney Samuel Cordes, names the West Mifflin Area School District and its former Superintendent Patrick Risha as defendants. Mr. Risha retired abruptly from the district in November with two years remaining on his contract.

The suit names Mr. Risha as an individual. However, Joseph Luvara, the special counsel hired by the district to handle the suit, said he is representing the district and Mr. Risha.

The suit alleges that Mr. Shar, the long time girls basketball coach, was fired because he spoke out at board meetings and in the local media against Mr. Risha's plan to build a new middle school on the high school campus and against the way Mr. Risha ran the district and spent taxpayer money.

It asks that Mr. Shar be reinstated to the coach's job and that the defendants be permanently enjoined from discriminating against or retaliating against Mr. Shar.

The suit also asks for compensatory damages "for the humiliation he has suffered" and for the costs of the litigation.

Stuart Knade, chief counsel for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, said the even if Mr. Shar is successful in his litigation, he would not be permitted to immediately return to the coaching job.

Mr. Knade said Section 324 of the state school code stipulates that "you cannot be employed by the school district in any capacity until after the expiration of your term of office regardless of if you resign."

Even if Mr. Shar would take the coaching position as a volunteer and receive no pay, he couldn't take the job until the expiration of his four-year contract, Mr. Knade said.

The suit said Mr. Shar was employed by the district as the girls' varsity basketball coach from Oct. 1, 1990, through June 30, 2009, and was employed as a teacher from Sept. 1, 1968, to June 10, 2003.

The suit claims that during Mr. Shar's final two years as coach, he was rated "high" by his supervisor on performance ratings.

It said that from "time to time" since 2006, when Mr. Risha became superintendent, Mr. Shar spoke at school board meetings about the superintendent's management style, spending and the tax implications of both.

It cites a specific April 2008 meeting at which Mr. Risha spoke about the middle school project and Mr. Shar, during the public comment portion, suggested the district should renovate the existing middle school rather than build a new one at the high school campus.

The suit alleges that before Mr. Shar could complete his presentation, Mr. Risha stopped him and "shouted at Shar that he could meet him outside" and that the superintendent threatened to remove people at the meeting who complained about his treatment of Mr. Shar.

The suit also alleges that at that meeting Mr. Risha called Mr. Shar a liar and threatened him. It doesn't describe what type of threat was levied.

During early bird contract negotiations in the spring of 2009, a provision was added to the teachers contract that gives teachers the first opportunity for any extra duty positions for which they are qualified.

The suit contends that the provision "effectively would have ended Shar's ability to coach."

On May 26, according to the suit, Mr. Shar organized a group of West Mifflin residents to attend the West Mifflin Area school board meeting for the purpose of speaking out against the district's "spending and taxation."

At that meeting, Mr. Shar spoke against a proposed tax increase that had been proposed by Mr. Risha.

The next day, according to the suit, Mr. Shar was called in by Athletic Director Scott Stephenson and high school Principal Mark Hoover and told that they, on behalf of Mr. Risha, were notifying Mr. Shar that his job as basketball coach was being opened to other candidates.

At the June 30 meeting of the school board, school directors voted 5-4 to replace Mr. Shar with one of his former assistants, Mindy McClelland, a special education teacher in the district.

West Mifflin Area solicitor Jack Cambest said the suit presents a conflict for Mr. Shar in that as a board member he is now a representative of the district. But, Mr. Cambest said, he will have to refrain from any discussions about the suit and "will have to be careful about participating in any action that could be related to the suit."

Mr. Cordes said his client understands that he would have to recuse himself from any discussion or decisions about the suit.

The district has 60 days to file a response

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