A handwritten complaint has been filed in the Carbon County Court of Common Pleas by a Lehighton Area School Board member saying that board President Larry Stern violated the Sunshine Act.

The complaint has been brought by new board member David F. Bradley Sr., 330 Airport Road, Lehighton. He is joined in the complaint by former candidate Frances Flickinger and Janice Bowman.

And while Stern is the only defendant shown on the documents, the plaintiffs, through their pleadings, told the court, “We are seeking an injunction against the Lehighton Area School Board for their continued violations of the Sunshine Act, including abuse of office, official oppression and First Amendment violations.”

The case has been assigned to President Judge Roger N. Nanovic, who handed down an order at 4:29 p.m. Thursday.

Nanovic said the complaint failed to comply with the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil procedure. He ordered the three plaintiffs to file pleadings showing why the complaint should not be dismissed.

Bowman, Flickinger and Bradley have 20 days to reply to the rule.

In an apparent reference to the handwritten manner in which the document was filed, Nanovic wrote, “Plaintiffs may wish to consider filing an amended complaint to the above-referenced docket number which complies with the pleading requirements for a complaint as set forth in the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure.”

The court documents are not in accordance with the manner and formatting typically required of a court document, in that there is no complaint accompanying the pleadings.

The pleadings include a one-page statement listing the plaintiffs and defendants, accompanied by three pages of notarized statements by Bowman, Flickinger and Bradley.

In those sworn notarized statements, the trio alleges Stern violated the Sunshine Act at a public meeting of the board held on Dec. 4, when, against the advisement of other board members, he called the vote on a motion made by a board member to the appoint Richard Beltz to the vacant seat, prior to providing a period of comment.

Bradley wrote that he witnessed Stern denying residents Flickinger and Bowman, taking official action “without providing them a reasonable opportunity to comment on the matter, despite their attempts to provide commentary.”

The filing alleges Stern’s action is a violation of the oath he took to “support, obey and defend” the constitutions of the U.S. and Commonwealth, and that his action silenced their voice “and the voice of the community resulting in a clear violation of the PA Sunshine Act.”

The plaintiffs claims Stern deprived them of their “right to exercise the enjoyment of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”

Both Flickinger and Bowman wrote, “My rights to free speech in a public meeting prior to the execution of an official action of the board is paramount in a civil society,” saying those rights were “willfully taken by the forcible actions of Stern in his zealous attempt to prevent citizens of the district and these United States access to their rights to peaceably assemble and petition their government prior to official action” of the board.

Bowman charged, “Larry Stern appeared angry and demonstrated he is prone to violent verbal outburst when he doesn’t get his way, he chose this disorderly conduct.”

The sworn statements claimed those actions “disrupted the peace and harmony of this commonwealth.”

The plaintiffs ask that Stern, the Lehighton School Board and solicitor be reprimanded “for their actions they took against this community.”