School Bus Drivers Ready To Fight Charges in Public

Two school bus drivers whom the East Hampton Board of Education suspended back in February are taking their cases to a hearing.

Dawn Gallagher, a bus driver for 28 years, and Christine Vorpahl, who has worked for the district since it took over busing students in 2006, are fighting the cases lodged against them.

Thomas W. Horn, a Sag Harbor attorney who has represented several Town of East Hampton employees in disciplinary charges over the past year, declined to get into the specifics of the charges on Monday, but said they will be aired publicly during the two separate hearings.

The hearings will start Tuesday at 9 a.m. Vopahl, an Amagansett native and Sag Harbor resident, will have her hearing first. Gallagher's is expected to begin on Wednesday. Each will be open to the public.

Gallagher, a Noyac resident, and Vorpahl have a total of nine charges against them, Horn said, adding that they are "vague and overblown."

Following the suspension of five transportation employees, District Superintendent Rich Burns told parents and staff that the charges had nothing to do with student safety or any interaction with students. He said he was not legally able to share more details.

“The innovative concept of opening public employee disciplinary hearings to public observation unlocks the secrecy of how employees are often mistreated and how Town Boards and School Boards mismanage taxpayer monies," Horn said in a statement issued on Sunday night.

Horn represented Linda Norris, the town's former Adult Day Care program supervisor in the Town of East Hampton's Human Services Department, in disciplinary charges in December. On the day of the public hearing, which drew a large crowd to Town Hall, opposing attorneys negotiated a deal and Norris switched departments.

Asked if negotiations were possible in the bus drivers' case, Horn said, "My modus operandi is to go full speed ahead and always look for an exit." However, he said, offers made so far were "too far apart," he said. "The administration appears quite emotional about Ms. Vorpahl."

Horn and Lawrence Kelly, a Bayport attorney, will represent the employees at their hearings. They have teamed up quite a bit over the past year, including on Norris' case, and are representing several in litigation against the town, including Jorge Kusanovic, a town's park department employee who is suing for $3 million on allegations that he was treated unfairly for a decade because he is Latino.

Horn also represented Larry Penny, the town's former director of Natural Resources, who was brought up on charges before he retired in 2012.

Kelly calls the charges against the bus drivers "amateurish, hypocritical and ignorant misstatements crafted by the Superintendent." He also said, "Following the filing of the charges, the Superintendent issued a public statement to parents in the district; it is in direct contrast to the allegations, and public hearings will illuminate the duplicity," the statement read.

In a letter dated Feb. 16 Burns said, "The issues relate to personnel/workplace matters," he said.

Kevin Seaman, a Stony Brook attorney, represents the Board of Education.