Two who were dismissed from the Ottoson Middle School in August 2007 filed a $7 million lawsuit in federal court Monday, Feb. 8, alleging that school officials wrongfully terminated them based on suspicions they were having an affair, Boston.com reported Feb. 9.

In a 45-page civil complaint filed in US District Court, the Web site said onetime Ottoson Middle School Principal Stavroula Bouris and Charles E. Coughlin, a technology teacher, allege their civil rights were violated when they were fired in 2007 by then-Superintendent Nathan Levenson.

YourArlington has requested a copy of the lawsuit from attorney Frank Mondano of Boston, representing Bouris and Coughlin. Since the story broke in mid-July 2007, Mondano has not responded to any request from YourArlington.

The Boston Globe, in a news story Feb. 10, reports the following about the lawsuit:

Bouris and Coughlin say talk of an affair was untrue, a story drummed up in retaliation after Levenson made two failed attempts to oust Bouris months earlier.

Last Oct. 27, following an 18-month arbitration, arbitrator Richard G. Boulanger found Coughlin's termination was not justified. Focusing on a school policy that says officials should not act on anonymous complaints, the arbitrator awarded Coughlin the right to return his old job, as well as full back pay and benefits. 

In November, the School Committee appealed that decision, and Mondano answered it in December.

In January, YourArlington first reported that Coughlin had received a payment as talks continued between attorneys for Mondano and the town.

Bouris's arbitration case continues, The Globe reported, quoting Mondano.

Town Manager Brian Sullivan said Feb. 9, according to The Globe, that though he believes the town has a "strong defense." In this case, Town Counsel Juliana Rice been talking informally with Mondano in an effort to try and resolve the matter outside the courtroom.

"I think both sides have an interest in trying to work this out," The Globe quoted Sullivan.

Other defendants reached Feb. 9 declined to comment to The Globe.

The lawsuit says the disputes dates to late January 2007, when Levenson informed Bouris her contract would not likely be renewed. A few weeks later, the suit says, Levenson then tried to unsuccessfully to "coerce" a resignation from Bouris, suggesting that she might be the subject of an untrue story about fondling a child if she did not agree to step down. 

When she declined, Levenson announced in March 2007 that Bouris's contract would not be renewed in March 2007, provoking strong public reaction.  

Following a stormy meeting in the Red Gym in late March, Bouris's contract was renewed, that April. 

The Globe quotes School Committee Chairman Joseph Curran as saying he believes Levenson's complaint with Bouris and Coughlin was a personnel matter that evolved into something personal.

According to the Globe account of the lawsuit, Levenson, acting on gossip overheard by Tracy Buck, a school technology department manager, monitored e-mails between the pair beginning in March 2007.

Citing the suit, the Globe reports that Levenson, and possibly Buck and others, hacked into Bouris's private e-mail account. In early June 2007, Levenson asked school attorney Alan Miller of Stoneham, Chandler & Miller of Boston to begin investigating Bouris and Coughlin to see if there was enough evidence to fire them for "inappropriate conduct."

Levenson, who resigned without warning in August 2008 amid Coughlin's arbitration, did not return phone calls from The Globe seeking comment.

He now runs District and Community Partners, a Boston-based education consulting firm.

The Globe reported that when she was reached at her office Feb. 9, Buck said she was "in a meeting" and hung up the phone.

The suit alleges that Levenson and Miller "manipulated the investigation into the conduct of Bouris and Coughlin in order to create the appearance of legitimacy to the decision [Levenson] had already made to terminate them."

Bouris and Coughlin are seeking $7 million in damages, saying the School Committee was negligent by failing to properly supervise, control, train and discipline Levenson, Buck and Jeffrey Thielman, a School Committee member.

Thielman declined to comment on the lawsuit Feb. 9 to The Globe, saying he had not had an opportunity to see it.

Arlington public schools are looking at a potential budget shortfall of $4.5 million, according to estimates at the Feb. 9 School Committee meeting.