Mar. 6—The Scranton School District filed a motion to dismiss former Chief Operating Officer Jeff Brazil's lawsuit that alleges a current and former school official conspired to have him falsely arrested on charges he exposed children to environmental hazards.

Brazil filed a federal lawsuit in September, seeking damages for emotional and financial damage he says he suffered after he was arrested on Sept. 30, 2020, for allegedly failing to act to address problems with asbestos and elevated lead levels in water and multiple district schools.

The state Office of Attorney General charged Brazil, former maintenance supervisor Joseph Slack and former superintendent Alexis Kirijan, Ed.D based on a statewide grand jury investigation. All charges against Brazil and Slack were dismissed in June 2021. Kirijan was admitted in the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program on one count of recklessly endangering another person.

Brazil's lawsuit alleges Superintendent Melissa McTiernan and former administrator Paul Dougherty feigned ignorance of the environmental problems to deflect blame from themselves and convince the grand jury to recommend charges against him.

The suit also names as defendants unnamed members of the Scranton School Board, an investigator with the state Office of Attorney General and a state trooper. It seeks damages on several counts, including false arrest, malicious prosecution and punitive damages.

In the motion to dismiss, the district's attorney, John Freund, argues none of the school defendants can be held liable for Brazil's arrest because they are private individuals who have no authority to authorize criminal charges.

Freund notes a prior appellate court ruled private individuals can be held liable for providing false information to law enforcement. In that case, the defendant was shown to have actively lobbied police to arrest the person and had also withheld evidence. Neither of those conditions are present in this case, he said.

"Plaintiff has failed to allege facts showing that the school defendants initiated a criminal proceeding or that they acted maliciously or for a purpose other than to provide testimony as to which school officials and employees had knowledge of relevant facts and details regarding the presence of lead and asbestos in various buildings," Freund says in the motion.

Brazil's attorney, Joseph Guzzardo of Philadelphia, will have an opportunity to respond to the motion. A judge will rule at a later date.

Contact the writer: tbesecker@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9137; @tmbeseckerTT on Twitter.