Lawsuit Aims to Reveal Misuse of Baseball Funds at Grossmont High

Hoping to uncover proof that Grossmont High School’s baseball booster club misappropriated snack-bar funds, Danilo “Dan” Nesovic has filed suit against the club and the school district.

The action, filed Aug. 8 as a civil complaint in San Diego Superior Court, seeks to force Blue and Gold Baseball Inc. and the Grossmont Union High School District to disclose financial records related to the baseball program.

In a Sept. 6 court filing, lawyers for the school district listed seven reasons why it shouldn’t have to comply with the request.

Among the reasons—said attorneys Daniel and William Shinoff of San Diego—was that Nesovic, “by his own conduct, acts and omissions, is barred by his unclean hands and shared fault, from all legal and equitable relief requested in the complaint.”

Nesovic is represented by Patricia Lewis, a downtown San Diego attorney, and says the school district and baseball club have refused to provide information as stipulated under the California Public Records Act.

“Plaintiff is informed and believes, as a result of a conversation with Tomi Griffiths, the bookkeeper for Blue and Gold, that the Blue and Gold internal financial records do not match the amounts of monies reported on the Blue and Gold Form 990 federal income tax returns,” Nesovic said in the suit.

Griffiths, a La Mesa resident, helped run the snack bar named for baseball coach Jim Earley’s late mother, Patsy, according to Nesovic and others. in May, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family, including two young sons.

“As a member of the general public, plaintiff is entitled to inspect and obtain copies of the Blue and Gold financial records, including those records held by Tomi Griffiths,” the suit said.

Griffiths is not explicitly a target of the suit, but Nesovic also seeks financial records from 50 John Does, which could include her.

No trial date has been set, but the case is assigned to Judge John Meyer.

Nesovic, whose son Robby starred in baseball and basketball for the Foothillers, to Grossmont Principal Dan Barnes that the baseball program under longtime coach Earley missappropriated baseball revenues and made unlawful use of school district facilities, among other things.

Last spring Nesovic told Patch that receipts from the snack bar at Joe Gizoni Field on campus were improperly given to Earley over a two-year period—the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

He said he spoke with a “team mom” who was in charge of the snack bar.

“She can testify that she never deposited any of that money with the [school] ASB account,” Nesovic told Patch.  “She said [in a phone chat] that all the money she gave, she gave to Coach Earley—and she was thinking he would do the right thing.”

The former team mom, which the court document identifies as Griffiths, declined to comment on these accusations in May.

Nesovic says the team mom kept records of snack bar receipts as well as sales of Grossmont gear such as T-shirts and caps.

“She has proof that money has not been put in the ASB account where it should be,” Nesovic said in May. “She would never give me any numbers. And she said she was afraid she would be liable for this.”

In May, district officials denied that Blue and Gold Baseball was a booster club and was “legally separate” from the district. But Nesovic argues that the group, led by Earley out of his Alpine home, was authorized by the school district to handle money from the snack bar.

And Catherine Martin, a school district spokeswoman, told Patch in May: “We have required B&G to follow the guidelines as a booster because they ran the GHS baseball concession stands during the in-season.”

Nesovic told Patch that he contacted El Cajon police about the case, but police have said they had no evidence to arrest Earley or anyone involved in the alleged mishandling of snack-bar receipts.