Tuesday, April 03, 2007
School District Alleges Senator Took Advantage Of Situation
School District Alleges Senator Took Advantage Of Situation
POSTED: 3:34 pm EDT March 28, 2007
UPDATED: 10:01 am EDT March 29, 2007
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Greenville County School District alleges that a South Carolina senator misused his office when he didn't tell the district about school computers that were auctioned off while they still contained personal information.
VIDEO: Thomas Responds To School District's Charges
The district said that Sen. David Thomas took advantage of his elected office and used the situation for his own personal gain.
Wednesday, Thomas denied those claims, and said that he was acting as a public servant, trying to protect students.
WYFF News 4 first learned about the computer in question last year when Kenneth Holbert and Scott Mann claimed they bought school computers and found thousands of private student records
Thomas later showed News 4 those computers in his Greenville office.
The school district sued Hobert and Mann to get the data back. The men then filed a counter-suit against the district.
Hobert and Mann said that they would settle for an apology and reimbursement for their costs.
On Tuesday, the district rejected that offer to settle, and in their response, made the allegations against Thomas that he used the situation for his personal gain.
There are some things everyone involved has publicly admitted: the computer was owned by the district and it does contain confidential information about thousands of Greenville County students.
But now in question is the motivation of the two men who bought the computer, and why is Thomas involved?
WYFF News 4's Gordon Dill spoke with Thomas in Columbia.
Thomas said, "... They then came to me because they knew I was an attorney and I had a lot of interest in the issue of identity theft"
Mann's sister was a teacher for the district. She was fired and sued.
In their court documents, the district said: "The school district believes evidence will show that Mann (and Senator Thomas) had an ulterior purpose for acquiring and retaining possession of the confidential information ... personal use by Mann as leverage for his sister in obtaining a settlement … in which she is represented by Senator Thomas."
But Thomas said the men showed him the computers and then at a later date, he took on Mann's sister as a client.
Thomas said, "After he and a friend brought me the computers that they had bought at auction. He then sent his sister later on. Completely different matter -- she had lost her job with the school district. The two issues have nothing to do with each other."
The district also said that Thomas misused his position as state senator. Specifically, they said that while he was holding the information, he introduced an identity theft bill in the Senate.
The district court document said, "He was attempting to persuade the South Carolina General Assembly to pass a personal identity theft bill. As proposed, that bill would allow a plaintiff to recover statutory per se damages even if that plaintiff had no actual damages. Senator Thomas, his firm, and even Holbert also conducted research into bringing a class action against the school district."
Thomas said, "This was not retroactive legislation. It would have been prospective and it would have applied to state entities and it would have applied to businesses. So this was an attempt to try and close a loophole that the school district has not accepted responsibility for."
But it is now clear that the district will not settle its suit against Holbert and Mann. And Dill said there is likely more to come in regards to that confidential information that everyone agrees ended up in the wrong hands.
POSTED: 3:34 pm EDT March 28, 2007
UPDATED: 10:01 am EDT March 29, 2007
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Greenville County School District alleges that a South Carolina senator misused his office when he didn't tell the district about school computers that were auctioned off while they still contained personal information.
VIDEO: Thomas Responds To School District's Charges
The district said that Sen. David Thomas took advantage of his elected office and used the situation for his own personal gain.
Wednesday, Thomas denied those claims, and said that he was acting as a public servant, trying to protect students.
WYFF News 4 first learned about the computer in question last year when Kenneth Holbert and Scott Mann claimed they bought school computers and found thousands of private student records
Thomas later showed News 4 those computers in his Greenville office.
The school district sued Hobert and Mann to get the data back. The men then filed a counter-suit against the district.
Hobert and Mann said that they would settle for an apology and reimbursement for their costs.
On Tuesday, the district rejected that offer to settle, and in their response, made the allegations against Thomas that he used the situation for his personal gain.
There are some things everyone involved has publicly admitted: the computer was owned by the district and it does contain confidential information about thousands of Greenville County students.
But now in question is the motivation of the two men who bought the computer, and why is Thomas involved?
WYFF News 4's Gordon Dill spoke with Thomas in Columbia.
Thomas said, "... They then came to me because they knew I was an attorney and I had a lot of interest in the issue of identity theft"
Mann's sister was a teacher for the district. She was fired and sued.
In their court documents, the district said: "The school district believes evidence will show that Mann (and Senator Thomas) had an ulterior purpose for acquiring and retaining possession of the confidential information ... personal use by Mann as leverage for his sister in obtaining a settlement … in which she is represented by Senator Thomas."
But Thomas said the men showed him the computers and then at a later date, he took on Mann's sister as a client.
Thomas said, "After he and a friend brought me the computers that they had bought at auction. He then sent his sister later on. Completely different matter -- she had lost her job with the school district. The two issues have nothing to do with each other."
The district also said that Thomas misused his position as state senator. Specifically, they said that while he was holding the information, he introduced an identity theft bill in the Senate.
The district court document said, "He was attempting to persuade the South Carolina General Assembly to pass a personal identity theft bill. As proposed, that bill would allow a plaintiff to recover statutory per se damages even if that plaintiff had no actual damages. Senator Thomas, his firm, and even Holbert also conducted research into bringing a class action against the school district."
Thomas said, "This was not retroactive legislation. It would have been prospective and it would have applied to state entities and it would have applied to businesses. So this was an attempt to try and close a loophole that the school district has not accepted responsibility for."
But it is now clear that the district will not settle its suit against Holbert and Mann. And Dill said there is likely more to come in regards to that confidential information that everyone agrees ended up in the wrong hands.
# posted by raveneye @ 8:57 PM 
