One of California’s largest charter school networks — a network that collects hundreds of millions of tax dollars a year — is being sued after firing a San Diego educator who requested time off for a knee replacement caused by her cancer diagnosis.
Her lawsuit also names as defendants a handful of firms with close ties to the Learn4Life network, pointing to a two-part investigation by The San Diego Union-Tribune that detailed their roles in school operations.
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Sharrene Stuht held dual roles at Learn4Life’s San Diego Workforce Innovation High School as regional athletic coordinator and truancy officer for 12 years before she was terminated last year, just weeks after telling her supervisor that she required the operation, her lawsuit says.
The plaintiff, 58, has been unable to find a new job and replace the health insurance she lost.
The San Diego Superior Court complaint accuses the school of firing Stuht for her disability and treatment needs while it blamed a lack of funds — even though it collected more than $450 million in public education funds in 2023-24, the most recent year for which data are available.
“While Learn4Life claimed her termination was due to ‘financial cost-cutting,’ ‘organizational restructuring’ and ‘business need,’ this was mere pretext for the real reason — Ms. Stuht’s ongoing recovery from breast cancer and need for accommodations and medical leave for upcoming knee surgery,” the lawsuit says.
According to the complaint, Stuht offered to perform alternative services and or even accept lower wages to stay on the payroll and keep her medical benefits, but the school would not allow her to.
“When Ms. Stuht pleaded to keep her job — offering to take a pay cut, accept a part-time position or transfer to any available role to maintain health insurance — she was refused,” the lawsuit says.
A Learn4Life spokesperson said it could not discuss the allegations in the lawsuit.
“Out of respect for the privacy of both current and former employees, we do not comment on individual personnel matters, specific allegations or pending legal matters,” a spokesperson for the charter network said in a statement.
“We take our responsibilities to our employees seriously and remain committed to fostering a respectful, supportive and professional workplace,” the statement said. “We appreciate your understanding.”
Among other things, the civil lawsuit says Stuht is not the only San Diego Learn4Life employee who was terminated in recent years after taking disability or medical leave. At least four other local workers were similarly dismissed, it says.
“Learn4Life systematically discards employees who need medical leave and/or accommodations,” Stuht’s attorneys wrote.
The complaint also says that Learn4Life did not do away with the duties Stuht fulfilled after she was let go.
“Ms. Stuht’s role as truancy officer support staff, or student retention support, was definitely not eliminated,” the lawsuit alleges. “Indeed, as San Diego area superintendent (Lindsay) Reese recently told the Union-Tribune, ‘calling students who are not turning in their work is a schoolwide effort and a necessary part of the job’.”
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An amended complaint filed last month relies heavily on reporting the Union-Tribune published in October, citing findings from its examination of business practices by Learn4Life schools and by the organization that directs much of their operations.
Numerous teachers said that administrators were fixated on growing enrollment — and the tax dollars that comes with it — rather than students’ academic success. Teachers described facing pressure to post high attendance numbers, which would boost Learn4Life’s revenue.
One such teacher was Kirsten Travis, who left Learn4Life in 2022 and now teaches at a district school in Los Angeles County. “I remember feeling at the time, ‘This isn’t right. It shouldn’t be this way,’” she said.
Since its founding in 2001, Learn4Life has grown into a powerhouse network of publicly funded charter schools that educates 20,000 or more students at dozens of campuses across California and spends millions of dollars a year on lobbyists and lawyers.
Federal tax records show that Lifelong Learning Administration Corporation — the nonprofit entity that effectively manages much of Learn4Life school operations — saw its net assets more than double over three years, from $18 million in 2021 to $36 million in 2024.
Most of its revenue comes from a share of the millions of public education dollars steered to Learn4Life schools.
Company officials would not disclose contracts or other details of the business arrangement when asked last year, but in 2019, a top official said in a court deposition that all Learn4Life schools paid the corporation a 15% fee.
While public schools and charter schools’ management organizations are required to adhere to state open-meeting and open-records laws, Lifelong Learning maintains that it does not operate Learn4Life schools and is not a charter management organization but rather a vendor.
State authorities have said otherwise, finding that Learn4Life schools are operated by Lifelong Learning.
Meanwhile, public records reviewed by the Union-Tribune last year showed the vast majority of the boards of Learn4Life schools in California controlled by one obscure entity called Educational Advancement Corporation with close links to Lifelong Learning.
Stuht’s lawsuit names both companies as defendants, citing those ties.
Stuht’s legal team said their client is still suffering from the effects of losing her job. They provided a statement from the former Learn4Life truancy officer describing the challenges she is facing professionally, emotionally and financially.
“I experience frequent anxiety and panic attacks, and most days are filled with depression, worry and uncertainty,” she wrote. “I cry every day — while searching for jobs, when talking with friends and when thinking about my future.
“The stress of unemployment has consumed nearly every aspect of my life,” she said.
The lawsuit has been assigned to Judge Terri E. Roberts.
Defendants earlier this month filed several demurrers and motions to strike, asking the judge to dismiss the complaint as invalid and remove what it said was improper evidence.
Rulings on those requests have yet to be filed, but a case management conference has been scheduled for Nov. 20.
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