Former Grant Joint Union High School District lawyer Jacques Whitfield asked staff to shred documents in the days before a district merger, illegally purchased school equipment on the cheap, and is withholding files that belong to the Twin Rivers Unified School District, according to a lawsuit filed in Sacramento Superior Court.

Whitfield served as legal counsel to the Grant district before it merged with the Rio Linda Union, North Sacramento and Del Paso Heights school districts on July 1, 2008, to become Twin Rivers Unified.

The Whitfield suit is one of a flurry of lawsuits Twin Rivers has filed against former Grant officials since the merger.

"The suit filed last week is part of an ongoing effort we have undertaken to protect our resources in our community," said Assistant Superintendent Ziggy Robeson.

Whitfield said Tuesday that the accusations are false.

"It's absolutely not true, and it's very unfortunate that someone in that administration would want to go forward with this."

The lawsuit claims that five months before the merger, Grant board members changed district policy allowing outgoing administrators to buy equipment they'd been using – at prices far below its value.

Whitfield is accused of buying a laptop computer, BlackBerry and printer for $100 each. The suit says Whitfield should have known that the state education code only allows school districts to sell equipment that they can no longer use and that it must go to the highest bidder.

In January, Twin Rivers Unified filed a separate lawsuit against 17 other people including Grant Joint Union administrators, board members and employees requesting the return of electronic equipment they had purchased under the board's new policy. The suit is still pending.

In addition to equipment, Twin Rivers is trying to recover school district documents and files that Whitfield and former contract attorney James Banks allegedly will not hand over.

The district filed a separate suit against Banks on Oct. 5.

Banks could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

Robeson said state-mandated reporting required of newly merged districts is being held up because of the missing documents.

"We're looking for any information that will assist us in closing out any of these important legal issues still pending," she said of the files.

"It's unfortunate that our district is being forced to spend time and resources on these issues," Robeson said.

Whitfield dismisses accusations that he has files belonging to the school district and said no one has called to ask him about whether he has them.

"I have no reason not to give them what they need," Whitfield said. "Everything I had was turned over to Timothy M. Cary & Associates (Twin Rivers counsel)."

Whitfield said Tuesday that his staff shredded documents, but that they were from old workshops and outdated files disposed of in compliance with government code.

"Clearly, I know the ethical implications and would never do that," Whitfield said.

Whitfield is among a dozen former Grant administrators waiting to receive severance payments between $100,000 and $257,562 approved by the Grant district before it was dissolved.

County Office of Education Superintendent Dave Gordon refused to issue the $2 million in checks, but a court ultimately ordered the payments.

Gordon's office appealed, and the money was placed in an escrow account pending the outcome.

Call The Bee's Diana Lambert, (916) 321-1090.