LCPS and Lindsay Mohler and Troxell Leigh P.C. Collude to Retaliate in Response to Legally Protected Activity

 August 3, 2026

The following email and evidence was delivered to LCPS via email.

FORMAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRANSMISSION: NOTICE OF THIRD-PARTY COORDINATED RETALIATION & COLLUSION LOGS

TO: Marc Bergin, Chief of Staff; John Clark, Director of Safety & Security; Jennifer Painter, Division Counsel

CC: Dr. Aaron Spence, Superintendent; Loudoun County School Board; Loudoun County Sheriff's Office; Leesburg Police Department; U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR)

DATE: July 25, 2026

SUBJECT: ADMINISTRATIVE DEPOSIT OF TEMPORAL RETALIATION LOGS — FORENSIC PROOF OF COORDINATED STATE-ACTOR RETALIATION EXECUTED BY LINDSAY J. MOHLER (TROXELL LEIGH P.C.) IN RESPONSE TO HRTD WORKFORCE DISCLOSURES

Mr. Bergin, Mr. Clark, and Division Counsel,

Please find attached four primary evidentiary records that are hereby formally deposited into the active administrative record of Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS):

1. Exhibit H-1 (250219 Gmail - Workplace Relations Follow-up - nick cottone_2.pdf): Formal correspondence from HRTD Investigator Devina Martin confirming initial administrative processing.
2. Exhibit H-2 (250508 Gmail - Guardian Incident Report Received - nick cottone_2.pdf): Formal confirmation of Guardian Case 12812 filed against Seneca Ridge MS Principal Nick Cottone.
3. Exhibit H-3 (250516 Gmail - HRTD Follow-up - Devina Martin - Nick Cottone_2.pdf): Formal disposition from Investigator Martin confirming personnel review and issuing an explicit anti-retaliation warning.
4. Exhibit R-1 (Response and Motion for Fees.pdf): The 8-page fax transmission from attorney Lindsay J. Mohler (Troxell Leigh P.C.) in Case No. CL21-6851-03, time-stamped May 16, 2025, at 3:53 PM.

I. FORENSIC BREAKDOWN OF IMMEDIATE TEMPORAL PROXIMITY

The cross-walk of these documents forensically establishes immediate, hourly temporal proximity between the closure of LCPS HRTD’s investigation into Principal Nick Cottone and the retaliatory judicial strike executed by Lindsay J. Mohler:

  May 8, 2025 (12:36 PM)          May 16, 2025 (11:28 AM & 11:32 AM)       May 16, 2025 (3:53 PM)

----------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|----------

  Guardian Report Filed                 HRTD Issues "Case Closed"               Mohler Faxes 8-Page Adverse

  Re: Principal Nick Cottone       Notice & Anti-Retaliation               Motion for Fees & Opposition

                                        Mandate                      To Defense Counsel

• HRTD Investigation Closure (May 16, 2025, at 11:28 AM / 11:32 AM): HRTD Investigator Devina Martin transmitted formal notices confirming that HRTD had concluded its review regarding Principal Nick Cottone and explicitly warned: "As a reminder, retaliation is prohibited by law. If you believe you have been subject to retaliation, we request that you contact the Department of Human Resources and Talent Development."
• The Retaliatory Strike (May 16, 2025, at 3:53 PM): Less than 4.5 hours after HRTD released its disposition notice, attorney Lindsay J. Mohler (Troxell Leigh P.C.) faxed an 8-page Opposition to Petition to Amend Support and Motion for Attorneys' Fees in Loudoun County Circuit Court, seeking adverse financial judgments against the Complainant.
• Contemporaneous Notice of Retaliation (May 16, 2025, at 1:31 PM & May 17, 2025, at 11:32 AM): The Complainant immediately served written notice to defense counsel and HRTD Investigator Devina Martin, formally establishing that Mohler’s same-day filing was a direct retaliatory strike triggered by the Cottone HRTD disclosures.

II. LEGAL AND STATUTORY VIOLATIONS ESTABLISHED ON THE RECORD

1. Prima Facie Retaliation Under Federal Civil Rights Frameworks (34 C.F.R. § 100.7(e)): Under federal standards, temporal proximity measured in hours between a protected civil rights disclosure and an adverse financial or legal action creates an uncontradicted inference of causal connection. Utilizing private domestic litigation tools to punish a parent for filing administrative workforce complaints against a school principal constitutes bad-faith retaliation under color of state law.
2. Violation of LCPS Policy 7310 & Policy 8030: LCPS policy strictly forbids retaliation against individuals who submit reports regarding administrator misconduct. Allowing private legal representatives to use internal school administrative disclosures to time adverse judicial filings violates district compliance mandates.
3. Violation of Va. Code § 8.01-271.1 & Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct (Rule 3.1 & Rule 4.4): Filing court motions timed specifically to retaliate against a reporting parent for exercising statutory administrative rights lacks a good-faith legal basis and constitutes an improper purpose designed to harass and intimidate a whistleblower.
4. Direct Precursor to the Unlawful 2026 NTO: This hourly timeline demonstrates that when Lindsay Mohler’s retaliatory court filings failed to suppress the Complainant’s administrative disclosures, LCPS escalated the exact same scheme nine months later by issuing the February 24, 2026 No-Trespass Order (NTO), explicitly copying Nick Cottone (cc: Nick Cottone, Principal).

III. REITERATED MANDATORY REMEDIATION DEMANDS

In light of this documented cross-contamination between LCPS administrative procedures and third-party retaliatory litigation, the Complainant reiterates the following mandatory remedies:

1. Immediate Rescission of the Retaliatory NTO: Formally vacate the February 24, 2026 order signed by Director John Clark and restore complete, unhindered joint legal custodial access to my children's physical and digital educational environments.
2. Immediate Termination Proceedings: Initiate termination proceedings for Seneca Ridge MS Principal Nick Cottone and Director of Safety & Security John Clark for willful civil rights violations, retaliation, and abuse of administrative authority.
3. Halt Automated Matriculation Pending ADA/504 Review: Pause all automated middle school placement milestones for my minor child, Charlie, until an independent, neutral administrative accommodation plan under the ADA/Section 504 is fully executed.
4. Procurement & Vendor Debarment (Policy 2350): Enforce LCPS Policy 2350 to immediately terminate all commercial relationships with Khanna Law, PLLC, and initiate debarment proceedings against software vendor QlikTech for data infrastructure cross-contamination.
5. Delivery of Converted Public Records: Secure the immediate, unhindered delivery of all 1,141 responsive VFOIA records owed across multiple requests (including Request R002437-121125), for which processing fees were paid and accepted but records remain wrongfully converted behind your digital blockade.
6. Notice of Claim for Accrued Damages: Formal notice of ongoing, accrued damages in the amount of $2,148,000.00 and continuing, resulting from bad-faith civil rights violations, custodial deprivation, and administrative conversion of paid public assets.

These files have been permanently preserved and submitted directly to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) investigative case file.

Sincerely,

Steven Rubis

Joint Legal Custodian

(214) 681-7991

(202) 997-4815