In 2002, Bonar filed a wrongful termination action in Kenton Circuit Court for two former employees against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington on behalf of two former Diocese employees.
Barbara D. BONAR, Movant v. KENTUCKY BAR ASSOCIATION
To leverage and conflate the wrongful termination claims, Bonar threatened to make public a long-term concealment of sexual abuse by diocesan priests.
As the wrongful termination suit gained media attention, Bonar was retained by nearly twenty individuals to pursue sexual abuse actions against the Diocese.
An attorney from Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley proposed their firms “join forces” to pursue a class action sexual abuse lawsuit, Bonar agreed and two of her clients became class representatives.
Over time, Bonar became dissatisfied with the progress of the class action litigation and the fee arrangement. She pulled her clients from the class action and withdrew as counsel.
After a settlement in the class action lawsuit, Bonar filed for attorney fees but was denied any fees by the Special Judge and Court of Appeals.
In addition, Bonar was charged with violating professional conduct rules and directed to pay $22,500 in disciplinary costs.
The Special Judge found that Bonar “provided evidence [of] her various conflicts” in emails to Diocese counsel, including “her continued settlement negotiations with the Diocese for three weeks between when the class certification was announced and the certification order was entered; her failure to inform her individual clients of the amount of time required for a class action; her reference to her own ties with the Diocese; and her reference to contacts with the media, in which she portrayed the class in a negative light.”
While Bonar’s conflict of interest is significant, her admitted violation of SCR 3.130-8.3c is deeply troubling.
While Bonar’s conflict of interest is arguably the most serious violation in her consolidated file, her admitted violation of former SCR 3.130-8.3c arising out of her conduct as KBA President is deeply troubling. When the allegations of ethical misconduct were levied against Bonar, KBA policy prohibited her from sitting on disciplinary cases. Following the KBA investigation, the Board mandated that Bonar seek consent and approval from the KBA Board of Governors or Executive Committee for any further committee appointments or removals.
In the original wrongful termination action Bonar threatened to use the release of damning (and unproven) allegations in an attempt to get a bigger settlement for the terminated employees. This seems to be a strategy that Attorney Bonar employs with regularity. Bonar later received a public reprimand from the Kentucky Supreme Court for what it deemed “brazen misrepresentations.” It is eerily similar to a wrongful termination lawsuit she filed on behalf of two former employees of highly respected local attorney Shane Romines.