A key figure in the Redlands Unified School District sex abuse scandal alleges district officials breached her contract and unlawfully retaliated against her when they placed her on leave and tried to fire her amid federal and state investigations that revealed systemic failures by the district in reporting student sexual abuse. Sabine Robertson-Phillips, who has served as the district’s assistant superintendent of human resources since 2007, notes in a claim filed with the district on Sept. 27 that she was placed on administrative leave on April 25 at the conclusion of separate investigations by the U.S. Office of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the state Attorney General’s Office. Robertson-Phillips, 54, maintains she was never found culpable of any wrongdoing and has not received any negative performance evaluations in her 17 years as HR director. Under terms of Robertson-Phillips’ employment contract, the district cannot fire her without “just and good cause.” Therefore, according to the claim, the district has breached her employment contract. Redlands Unified spokesperson Christine Stephens said the district has denied the claim, which typically is a precursor to a lawsuit. A board majority is at stake in the Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, election for the Redlands Unified School District board. (File Photo by John Valenzuela, Redlands Daily Facts/SCNG) Ken Wagner, former assistant superintendent of educational services for the Redlands Unified School District who resigned in August 2024 following federal and state investigations that found numerous Title IX violations at the district regarding failures to report sexual abuse. (Courtesy photo) Redlands Unified School District Superintendent Juan Cabral. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Former Citrus Valley High School teacher Laura Whitehurst awaits a hearing in 2013 in San Bernardino Superior Court. Whitehurst was convicted of having sex with several students at Citrus Valley and Redlands high schools. She bore the child of one of her students. (Photo by Kurt Miller, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Former Redlands High School math teacher and golf coach, Kevin Patrick Kirkland. (File courtesy photo) Show Caption1 of 5A board majority is at stake in the Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, election for the Redlands Unified School District board. (File Photo by John Valenzuela, Redlands Daily Facts/SCNG) Expand While Robertson-Phillips has threatened to sue the district, her attorney, Stephen G. Larson, said in an email: “We are attempting to resolve this amicably without litigation and remain hopeful the District will respond in good faith. If not, however, we will pursue litigation to vindicate Dr. Robertson-Phillips’s rights.” Not culpable Both the OCR and Department of Justice concluded the district failed in multiple instances to properly report student sexual abuse by staff and by other students, which constituted violations of the state Education Code, the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA) and Title IX, the 1972 federal law enacted to protect individuals from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. The DOJ also found that the district — in five instances, two of which occurred in 2016 — did not report teachers who had resigned or retired amid allegations of sexual misconduct to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, as required by the state Education Code. And while the OCR found the district responsible for “numerous Title IX violations,” Robertson-Phillips maintains she was never the district’s Title IX coordinator. That responsibility, according to the claim, fell on the district’s assistant superintendent of educational services, Ken Wagner, who was hired by the district in 2017 and resigned in August 2024 following the release of the state and federal investigation findings. Furthermore, Robertson-Phillips maintains that while she was accused of reporting failures under CANRA and was suspected by two Redlands police detectives of destroying files and hindering an investigation of former high school teacher Laura Whitehurst in 2013, she was cleared by both the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office in 2013 and then the Commission on Teacher Credentialing in 2019. Whistleblower retaliation Robertson-Phillips alleges she was placed on leave and forced from her position in retaliation for cooperating in the DOJ investigation during a three-day interview with investigators in February, during which she provided information regarding the district’s Title IX violations. In June, Superintendent Juan Cabral informed Robertson-Phillips that the district had retained a law firm to conduct an internal investigation into the DOJ findings and, according to her claim, gave her an ultimatum to either step down or face an investigation that could take up to a year. Robertson-Phillips noted in her claim that it is the responsibility of the superintendent — not the assistant superintendent of human resources — to report teachers who resign or retire under a cloud of suspicion about sexual misconduct. Robertson-Phillips also alleges the district violated her privacy and district policy by disclosing to the media that she had been placed on administrative leave, which she says caused her severe emotional distress and substantial and lasting harm to her reputation. “This violation was particularly egregious given that the District and Superintendent Cabral were not even arguably obligated to disclose the leave,” the claim states. The lawsuit also alleged race, age and sex discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Scandal exposed A Southern California News Group investigation of Redlands Unified that began in 2018 revealed that the district, for decades, frequently failed to report to authorities teachers and other employees accused of grooming and sexually abusing students, including former Citrus Valley High School teacher Laura Whitehurst and former Redlands High School teacher Kevin Patrick Kirkland. SCNG’s investigation revealed that, in some cases, Redlands Unified thwarted police investigations of sexual abuse cases. Since 2013, the district has settled more than a dozen sexual abuse lawsuits for tens of millions of dollars. One law firm alone, Irvine-based Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, has achieved more than $41 million in settlements from the district for its clients. The scandal has forced sweeping reforms at the district and also prompted a grand jury investigation in 2022 that was critical of the district’s progress and concluded it still had a ways to go in mandated reporter training and protocol. Related links How a culture of covering up sex abuse at public schools is hurting children — and costing taxpayers millions Federal review slams Redlands Unified’s failures to address sexual abuse complaints by students Redlands Unified ‘systematically violated laws’ protecting kids from abuse, California AG says Grand jury says Redlands Unified still lacks proper training to combat sexual abuse After $30.2 million in settlements, Redlands Unified adopts sweeping policy changes to quell teacher sex abuse ‘Disease at the top’ Robertson-Phillips claims she has been publicly disparaged by attorney Morgan Stewart of Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, which has represented more than a dozen former students in sex abuse lawsuits against the district with allegations dating back 25 years. “Indeed, Mr. Stewart has called Dr. Robertson-Phillips the ‘disease’ at the top of the District and has vowed to do everything he can to get her terminated,” the claim states. The embattled HR director also alleges she has been disparaged by local media for “largely acting on a relentless campaign of disinformation fueled by Stewart.” Stewart said he disagrees with Robertson-Phillips about not being culpable or accountable for any wrongdoing. “They all had an obligation to protect the kids,” Stewart said. “Each of them are mandated reporters. You can’t blame someone else when you have legal duties.”