Four of the nine dismissed trustees of the Vancouver school board are alleging that they were defamed by Education Minister Mike Bernier.

The former trustees belonging to Vision Vancouver have claimed that their reputations were tarnished by statements Bernier made regarding alleged bullying against senior staff in the school district.

Through defamation lawyer Bryan Baynham, ex-trustees Mike Lombardi, Patti Bacchus, Joy Alexander, and Allan Wong are demanding an apology.

The four canned trustees are also asking for an apology from Sherry Elwood, president of the B.C. School Superintendents Association (BCSSA), who wrote Bernier about concerns regarding the work environment in the district.

On October 17, Bernier fired the entire board for failing to pass a balanced budget as required by law.

Bernier said in his statement at the time that in addition to such noncompliance, the BCSSA also informed his ministry that the district had become a toxic workplace for staff.

Six senior managers were on medical leave when Bernier announced the firing of the school board.

Earlier on September 30, Bernier said that he has referred to WorkSafeBC a letter he received from the superintendents’ association.

“In a series of letters, media releases, and leaks to the press you have seriously defamed my clients' good names and reputations by alleging that they created a toxic work environment by bullying, harassing and intimidating Senior Staff at the Vancouver School Board, which directly lead to six members of the Senior Staff taking medical leave at the end of September,” Baynham wrote in a letter to Bernier on Wednesday (October 25).

“Your defamation of my clients culminated in your press conference on October 17th when you accused my clients in the last few months, of causing ‘the workplace to become toxic for staff’ and then went on to use that as an excuse for dismissing the entire Board,” it reads.

“The implication that you left with the public at large was that my clients were bullies who intimidated senior management to the extent that six of the senior management staff at the Vancouver School Board found the situation so toxic that they had no alternative but to leave en masse claiming medical leave,” the lawyer added.

In a separate letter Wednesday (October 25) to Elwood, Baynham stated that based on news report, she was the “source of the allegations of bullying, harassment and intimidation by members of the Vancouver School Board against its senior staff”.

“These allegations seriously defame the good name and reputation of my clients and require a retraction and full apology for those comments,” Baynham demanded.

Claims that the four ex-Vision school trustees were defamed have yet to be proven in court.