Judge rules against school volunteer

A judge ruled Friday against a Newport Harbor High School volunteer who filed a lawsuit accusing three parents at the school of making false statements about her.

At Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, Judge Clay Smith ruled that parents Maxine Macha, Lori Hernandez and Denise Harris did not slander volunteer Hennie Sondel, who said the parents falsely accused her of driving drunk during a pair of school trips last year. Sondel, an assistant to the school’s culinary arts team, filed her claims in January and sought more than $25,000 in damages from the parents.

The judge said no slander had taken place, since Sondel had admitted to having consumed alcohol on the trips. Sondel said she had consumed only small amounts and that her driving ability was not impaired.

“There is no justice,” she said after the ruling. “I have done nothing wrong.”

Smith wrote that Sondel had failed to demonstrate that the parents’ statements were untrue or defamatory, and that her case was “a paradigm of the use of litigation to punish or deter protected, privileged speech.” The parents, whose children went with Sondel to competitions, complained to the school and district about her behavior on the trips.

Newport Harbor Principal Michael Vossen declined to comment on the case, but said he would consult with administrators about the issue.