Three Arizona parents are suing their children’s district for allegedly compiling personal information in a “secret dossier” aimed at intimidating them.
The dossier was intended “to silence and punish dissenting voices and frighten away other potential speakers who might dare express an opposing point of view” and included information on at least 47 parents who spoke out against policies at school board meetings, according to the lawsuit, which seeks general, special, consequential, and punitive damages in amounts to be proven at trial.
“Defendants used both legal and illegal methods to accomplish their unconstitutional goal. They amassed reams of public and private information about the Plaintiffs, including information related to Plaintiffs’ jobs, businesses, finances, medical history, family history, housing situation, and children. They videotaped, photographed, and recorded the Plaintiffs and their children,” the complaint, filed Thursday with the Superior Court for the State of Arizona, read.
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The lawsuit names the Scottsdale Unified School District, former SUSD President Jann-Michael Greenburg, Greenburg’s father, and Greenburg’s father’s wife as the defendants in the case
Dubbed by some as the “Greenburg Files,” Greenburg and his father allegedly maintained a dossier stored on Google Drive filled with information on dozens of parents who voiced opposition to his policies on critical race theory, COVID-19, and other hot-button topics, according to the filing.
Last August, Greenburg sent a screenshot of the files to Kim Stafford, a target of the alleged opposition research who is now a plaintiff in the suit. The screenshot apparently showed comments Stafford made in a private Facebook group titled Scottsdale Unified while accidentally exposing the alleged dossier by revealing a URL to the Google Drive folder Greenburg had compiled.
“Greenburg also publicly accused Plaintiff Kim Stafford of being anti-Semitic, conspiratorial, and prejudicial,” the complaint read. “As proof of his claims, Jann-Michael attached files that, upon information and belief, came from the Google Drive, and involved activity on the Facebook Group that followed Ms. Stafford’s departure from the group. Jann Michael attached a screenshot of the public Google Drive hyperlink to one of the many files Mark Greenburg had amassed about the Facebook Group.”
The dossier also allegedly contained Social Security numbers, addresses, and photos of some of the parents. It was reportedly maintained by Greenburg’s father, who is accused of collecting much of the personal information.
“Mark Greenburg, disguised in a motorcycle helmet and full body motorcycle outfit equipped with a body camera, recorded himself telling another individual that somewhere in the crowd was a private investigator ‘our law firm hire[d]’ to get information without being detected. It is unclear whether the ‘our’ refers to a law firm paid for by the District and taxpayer dollars or the Greenburgs personally,” the lawsuit read.
The defendants “misused District resources and what should have been private, protected parent communications to the District to retaliate against Plaintiffs for their protected speech,” the plaintiffs alleged.
One of the plaintiffs, Amanda Wray, said she became extremely fearful of engaging with the school board because of the Greenburgs’ activities.
“I stopped engaging with the school district, and I stopped going to school board meetings because I was physically afraid,” Wray said, according to 12 News.
After news of the “Greenburg Files” broke last year, the school district announced it was hiring an investigator to review Greenburg’s actions. The governing board also voted Greenburg out last November.
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Greenburg, who was the only vote against appointing a new president, argued the board was acting too hastily in voting him out, the Arizona Central reported.
“There appears to be bad actors involved, and I am confident our law enforcement professionals will quickly resolve these issues,” he said, according to the outlet.
