Palmerton Area School District and its superintendent, Scot Engler, denied claims of retaliation against high school Principal Paula Husar in a document filed Friday in U.S. Middle District Court.

Husar, who has been principal at the high school since 2013, filed a lawsuit in Carbon County Court in November, alleging negligence and breach of contract after she received 1.15 points on her year-end evaluation and an “unsatisfactory performance rating.”In April, she followed up with a federal lawsuit after receiving a three-day suspension for “alleged improper handling of a school bus investigation,” one day after oral arguments in the Carbon County lawsuit.“Mrs. Husar was suspended due to conduct which occurred unrelated to the argument held in the Court of Common Pleas of Carbon County, and for conduct which was not related to her evaluation or to the argument in the Court of Common Pleas of Carbon County,” wrote Robin Snyder, attorney for the district and Engler.The district has confirmed a personnel hearing on July 26, and social media posts indicate the topic is Husar’s suspension.Snyder also told the court Husar’s “unsatisfactory” rating given at the end of the 2015-16 school year had been changed.“After the filing of the complaint in Carbon County and a mediation session, the evaluation was changed to satisfactory to forego the challenges in the Court of Common Pleas of Carbon County or with other appropriate administrative agencies,” Snyder said.According to Husar, her initial legal action stems from an interview with board members regarding the job performance of Engler, whose contract was being considered for renewal.“Despite the assurances by the district’s school board that (Husar’s) comments regarding Mr. Engler’s job performance would remain confidential, the district communicated the opinions to Mr. Engler and others,” Husar’s attorneys, John Dean and Mark Bufalino, wrote in the county complaint.In Friday’s court filing, Snyder acknowledged the board did meet with members of the administrative team.“The board met with those members after emailing them and asking them to give consideration to a list of questions, the answers to which would allow the board to gain feedback, while giving the administrators the opportunity to discuss issues they felt were important,” Snyder wrote. “None of the questions asked the administrator to opine on the job performance of Mr. Engler. The defendants are unable to admit or deny the allegations that the district communicated Ms. Husar’s opinions as it is unknown to the defendants who within the district communicated these opinions.”In November 2016, Husar filed a gender discrimination, sexual harassment, hostile work environment, age discrimination and retaliation claim against the district and Engler before the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.After Husar’s comments about Engler’s job performance were revealed, her attorneys argued, “she faced harassing, hostile and discriminatory comments.”In his submission Friday, Snyder said the district and Engler “have never been served with a copy of the notice of charge or charge of discrimination or the PHRC complaint.”A case management conference in the federal lawsuit is scheduled for late August.