After telling member to leave the room, Beaufort Co. school board makes lawsuit records public
This story has been updated to include comments from attorney Andrea White.
Beaufort County’s school board has agreed to make public some records from member William Smith’s lawsuit against his colleagues and the school district — but only after asking Smith to leave a private discussion before the vote.
The board voted 10-0 to “waive privilege” on their communications with Columbia-based lawyer Andrea White related to Smith’s lawsuit.
That means that communications that were previously confidential between White and the board — such as emails, legal recommendations and bills — can now be made public through records requests and interviews.
Smith recused himself from the vote, saying after the meeting that board attorney Eugene Matthews told him to leave the board’s closed-session discussion before it publicly voted on the decision.
Taylor Smith, an attorney with the South Carolina Press Association, said Thursday that it’s “not uncommon” for a client to waive attorney-client privilege in a case where either party could become a witness.
“An attorney shall not ethically be a witness in a proceeding in which they’re embroiled,” he said. “So the attorney may have indicated to the client in this case it is in your best interest to waive attorney-client privilege in communications related to this matter, because I cannot be a witness and your attorney.”
White was hired by the board in May “to advise the board regarding a legal matter,” a month before Smith sued the school district, the Board of Education and various board members and school officials. Smith alleged they slandered him and conducted “a concerted smear campaign” in 2019 after employees filed complaints against him.
Reached Thursday afternoon, White said there was a “possibility” she would be be a witness for the defense, particularly around the investigation she conducted in 2019 and the advice and recommendations she gave as a result.
As a part of that investigation, she came to Beaufort and interviewed each of the employees who filed complaints, along with Smith and his then-attorney Clifford Bush, who saw the grievances.
“I’m not going to get into specifics about what my advice was and recommendations,” she said. “I mean, that will all be in the documents.”
She said that Matthews called her about waiving privilege, which belongs to the client rather than the attorney, as a professional courtesy.
There’s been no movement on Smith’s lawsuit since June 25, when the defendants filed a response to the suit, calling it “starkly self-serving” and asking for it to be dismissed.
Smith has demanded a jury trial. According to Beaufort County’s 14th Circuit Public Index, the suit is slated for alternative dispute resolution on Jan. 3, 2022.
Smith, who represents St. Helena and Lady’s Island, was also asked to leave at the start of the board’s hourlong closed session in May to discuss hiring White.
White was hired again by the district in August “to investigate a grievance filed by a District employee against a Trustee.” The school board did not name the subject of the complaint and didn’t discuss the nature of the complaint. These complaints can encompass any form of work grievance, ranging from discrimination to a hostile environment to violations of the law.
Smith was the lone “no” vote on her hiring in August.
White is not representing the defendants in Smith’s lawsuit — the defense attorney is Matthews, who works for the Columbia-based firm Richardson Plowden Attorneys at Law.
However, Smith did reference White in yet another vote out of closed session — one on Sept. 7, when he was publicly reprimanded by his colleagues for violating board policies on conduct, specifically for trying to resolve school issues without involving Superintendent Frank Rodriguez or the rest of the board.
Smith said during that vote that because of his pending lawsuit, his attorney advised him to not speak about the grievances until he had “sufficient time” to review a report made to the board by their attorney, White, and to “conduct my own investigation into the incident.”
White’s history with the board
Board chairperson Christina Gwozdz said Tuesday that the waiver of attorney-client privilege does not cover the school board’s communications with White in 2019.
In June 2019, at least four district employees made formal or informal complaints to the district, claiming that Smith “created a hostile work environment” by making unannounced visits to their offices, records obtained by the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette show.
White’s firm, White & Story, was originally hired by the board that month to “to assess and review employee grievances that have been filed regarding the Board.”
Two months later, the board voted to “accept the recommendation presented by its legal counsel in reference to the grievances that were filed regarding the board.”
It held no public discussion on the motion.
The board and district never revealed that Smith was the subject of the complaints or what the complaints said. Both of those details were obtained and made public by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette in the year following White’s hiring.
According to Smith’s lawsuit, the Board ultimately decided not to take action against him, “nor did the Board express its disapproval of his alleged actions in connection with the complaints.” This is the first time the public has heard how those complaints were resolved.
In total, White’s firm billed the district for more than $16,000 for its work on the grievances.
This story was originally published November 18, 2021 at 12:26 PM.