Fired Camden charter school administrator files whistle-blower suit

A former administrator for Camden's LEAP Academy University Charter School says he was fired after he reported seeing a student bullied by the school's chef - a staff member who is the boyfriend of the school's founder and chairwoman, Gloria Bonilla-Santiago.

Devon Worster, formerly an athletic director and vice principal at LEAP, has filed a whistle-blower lawsuit in Superior Court in Camden County alleging that he witnessed executive Michele Pastorello "bully, harass, and intimidate" a minor student in April and reported it to the administration. Days later, according to the filing, he was asked to sign a "backdated and fraudulent" negative performance review, and was ultimately fired.

LEAP spokesman Adam Dvorin said Tuesday that the school would not comment on personnel matters.

"Furthermore, LEAP does not have an administrative record of any such incident being reported to the school," Dvorin said. "At the LEAP Academy University Charter School, faculty and staff are a vital part of an educational model that has helped create new opportunities for hundreds of inner-city children from low-income backgrounds. We take our relationship with each and every faculty member very seriously."

Worster's name and photo still appeared on the LEAP website Tuesday afternoon, though he was terminated in May, said his attorney, Eric Lubin. Worster refused to sign the negative performance review, Lubin said, and has not found a new job.

"He's been put in a situation where he needs to clear his name," Lubin said.

Worster had been an employee of LEAP for several years, Lubin said. Previously he had worked at Red Bank Charter School for more than a decade, according to his online LinkedIn profile.

Pastorello, who lives with Bonilla-Santiago, works as the school's chef, and also educates students and their parents about healthy eating, hosting fresh-food demonstrations throughout the year.

In April, Worster contends, he observed Pastorello's interaction with the student, who is not named in the suit. Worster said he intervened, then reported the incident to Pastorello's supervisor.

"Pastorello confronted [Worster] only a day or two later and laughed about how his relationship with Bonilla-Santiago made him untouchable, regardless of how he treated the young students," the lawsuit states.

The suit requests a jury trial.

Bonilla-Santiago's relationship with Pastorello came under scrutiny in 2013 when he received a $24,000 raise. The raise brought his salary to $95,000, about double that of some teachers at the school.

At the time, a subcommittee of LEAP Academy's board reviewed the process by which Pastorello got the raise, and found no irregularities. Bonilla-Santiago recused herself from the review.

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