Lebanon Community Schools Superintendent Jim Robinson has filed a legal notice of claim with the school district over a possible lawsuit against school board members Rick Alexander, Josh Wineteer and "other persons who may have been complicit for damages sustained by Mr. Robinson as a result of their conduct."

The notice was filed on Robinson's behalf by his attorney, James M. Brown of Portland on July 16.

The notice alleges that for personal reasons Alexander and Wineteer wrongfully interfered with Robinson's employment contract, causing the superintendent "sustained damages" on or about January 22, 2008.

On January 23, the school board met in executive session to discuss Robinson's annual evaluation. Robinson received an overall low rating from the board. On a scale of 0 to 4 with 0 being unacceptable and 4 being outstanding, he did not score higher than 2.4 in any of the nine categories evaluated and received a score of 0.8 in communications and community relations.

The scores were an average of all scores given by the five board members. Their individual evaluation scores were not made public.

A the time Robinson said he was "disappointed in the process."

In a 3-2 vote on March 3, the board voted not to extend Robinson's contract. Wineteer, Alexander and Debi Shimmin voted against the extension. Robinson's current contract expires on June 30, 2010.

In November 2007, Alexander sought a declaratory judgment in Linn County Circuit seeking clarification on whether the board could vote not to extend Robinson's contract without a poor evaluation. Alexander dropped the case on March 10, before a judge ruled on the question.

According to the claim notice, the conduct Robinson may sue Alexander and Wineteer for was outside their capacity as board members and not for the benefit of the district, and a lawsuit will not affect the district.

Board members are generally covered by the district's liability insurance as long as their conduct is within their capacity as board members. Brown alleges in the claim that Alexander and Wineteer have in the past used the district insurance for personal conduct but did not list the specific incident.

Reached by phone, Alexander said he was unaware of the tort notice, adding, "I guess it's about the money and not the students."

Wineteer was unavailable for comment on Friday afternoon.

Robinson declined to comment on possible litigation against Alexander and Wineteer.