San Marino hearing continues in dismissal appeal after employee distributed records about coach

San Marino Unified School District held a disciplinary appeal hearing March 18 to review the district's decision to dismiss health services assistant Leda Escamilla after she delivered a packet of court and law-enforcement documents about head football coach Nate Turner to parents and school staff.

The hearing, presided over by retired Los Angeles Superior Court judge Wendell Mortimer, centered on whether the district had proper cause to terminate Escamilla after she provided the packet to school officials and others in late August 2023 and later to at least one parent group.

The district's counsel told the board the case concerns unlawful or improper distribution of private law-enforcement records and disruption at the high school. The district has said its hiring decisions follow fingerprinting and background checks through the Department of Justice and FBI and that those clearances limit what the district may lawfully consider about an applicant's past. District attorneys also described an independent neutral investigator's findings that some allegations in the packet were not public records and that several complaints tied to the packet were unsubstantiated.

Why it matters: the case raises competing priorities for the local school system ' the privacy and legal limits on using law-enforcement and court materials in personnel decisions; staff and student safety concerns voiced by an employee; and district responsibilities in investigating workplace disputes and protecting both employees and students.

What happened at the hearing - The district introduced…