Rochester Schools file motion to dismiss former IT chief's lawsuit

Rochester Schools Supt. Kyle Repucci, left, and Col. David Yasenchock (Repucci/Rochester Voice file; Yasenchock/Courtesy)

DOVER - The defendants in a lawsuit filed by Rochester Schools former IT chief are seeking to have his complaint dismissed by sidestepping all allegations of wrongdoing and claiming he only has standing against his official employer - the Rochester School Department - and there is no merit in that either.
Among those accused by former school IT chief David Yasenchock are Rochester Supt. of Schools Kyle Repucci, Asst. Supt. Saundra MacDonald, Rochester School Board Chair Paul Lynch, the Rochester School Board and the Rochester School Department.
Yasenchock's complaint alleges defendants "wrongfully terminated (him) when they harassed him and ultimately fired him in November 2020."
Yasenchock, who for 23 years served as chief technology officer of Rochester Schools, alleges in his suit that two months before his firing Repucci ordered him to search for emails between various school board members and elected union officials and provide paper copies back to him.
Repucci allegedly wanted to view the emails to determine if certain school board members had worked on a file presented to the school board by union officials, according to the complaint.
On Sept. 17, 2020, Yasenchock voiced concerns over the legality of what Repucci had ordered and requested he state in writing the exact scope of what he wanted his IT chief to do.
Soon after Yasenchock had a confrontation with Repucci and MacDonald over the issue, which ultimately led to his firing, Yassenchock claims in his lawsuit.
But the motion to dismiss filed recently in Strafford Superior Court ignores the data mining issue and simply states that none of the defendants other than the Rochester School Department can be sued over such allegations as they were not his employer and thus had no contractual obligations to Yasenchock.
The motion to dismiss also indicates Yasenchock failed to file a copy of his contract with the school department with his lawsuit.
"Although Plaintiff alleges the existence of a written contract, he has tellingly failed to attach it," the motion from the law firm of Friedman Feeney of Concord states. "More importantly, he has failed identify any term thereof that he claims the Department breached. Indeed, he does not even specifically state that the written terms of the contract were breached."
The motion to dismiss also says his discrimination claims fall short as he "failed to name them in the (recent) claim he filed with the Commission for Human Rights."
Yasenchock's lawyers are now preparing a rebuttal to defendants' motion, he told The Voice last week.