Former staffers sue shuttered charter school

A GROUP OF FORMER employees of the Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School has filed a class-action lawsuit against the school, its founder and others for unpaid compensation, the Daily News has learned.

About 75 to 150 ex-Palmer staffers are expected to be represented in the suit and are seeking several thousand to $14,000 each in damages, said their lawyer, Joshua Rubinsky, with the law firm Brodie & Rubinsky, PC. The complaint was filed Monday in Common Pleas Court.

The suit states that Palmer did not pay for work performed during Nov. 1, 2014, to Jan. 15.

"People didn't get paid a month's pay," Rubinsky said yesterday. "There are benefit days [sick days, summer pay, etc.] that have accrued but have not been paid out."

According to the complaint, obtained by the Daily News, the sole named plaintiff, David Hardwick, and the others "similarly situated," "seek immediate payment of wages owed to the Class, liquidated damages, interest, attorneys' fees and costs, and any other relief that the Court may deem just and proper."

Palmer shut down operations Dec. 31 at its K-8 school in Northern Liberties. In October, the school eliminated grades nine through 12 at its Frankford campus after it was forced to reduce enrollment from more than 1,200 pupils to 675, following a series of court rulings.

David Weathington, who's in charge of liquidating Palmer's assets and is identified in court papers as Palmer's chief administrative officer, and Jack Pund, a financial overseer, are both named in the class-action suit. Six unidentified individuals, referred to as Jane and John Does, were also named as defendants.

"It's unfortunate. People who run organizations - schools, unions, businesses - they have a responsibility to ensure people get paid," Rubinsky said.

Reached last night, Walter D. Palmer, the school's founder and CEO, declined to comment on the suit, saying he had not seen it.

Online: ph.ly/DNEducation