LAKEVILLE – Lakeville could owe former Superintendent of Schools Alan Strauss as much as $1 million after two Freetown-Lakeville School Committee members defamed him by questioning whether he was actually sick with leukemia, according to a letter sent to the town from his legal counsel.

Committee members Carolina Hernandez and Crystal Ng, who represent Lakeville, “made false and defamatory statements alleging that Superintendent Strauss is not actually sick with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia,’’ according to the letter from the Wellesley Hills law firm of Lenow and McCarthy and signed by Sheilah McCarthy.

These statements convey “the message that the superintendent of schools has been untruthful about his diagnosis’’ and are “tantamount to accusing him of defrauding the school district,’’ the letter states.

Hernandez and Ng “ignored assurances that Superintendent Strauss has provided proof of his diagnosis by Dana Farber Cancer Center in the context of requesting and obtaining intermittent medical leave to receive care for his condition.’’ 

The letter also claims that in publicly evaluating the superintendent, Hernandez said that “she had repeatedly asked for proof of his diagnosis in order to evaluate him and, in the absence of seeing his diagnosis, she gave him a rating of ‘needs improvement.’ " 

The “emotional distress caused by these people is interfering with Superintendent Strauss's ability to fight his leukemia’’ and “is exacerbating the physical symptoms of his illness,’’ according to the letter.

Strauss announced his resignation at the Jan. 8 Freetown Lakeville Regional School Committee meeting, citing in part "defamatory statements’’ made about his health by Ng and Hernandez.

He noted during the announcement of his resignation that the agreement “does not prevent him from making claims against individual committee members “acting in their personal (not official) capacities.’’

Strauss was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in July 2023 and shared his diagnosis from the Dana Farber Cancer Center shortly after with the then chair and vice chair of the School Committee and then with the overall school community, he stated in his resignation statement read at the Jan. 8 meeting.

He received a payment of $144,913 from the district and in turn agreed to take no legal action against the district or the committee. But he noted in his resignation statement that the “agreement does not prevent him from making claims against individual committee members “acting in their personal (not official) capacities.’’

The attorneys requested a response from the town within six months. They also requested that all correspondence related to the issue be maintained.

Town Administrator Andrew Sukeforth said the town does not comment on pending litigation.