Saraland City Schools has filed a lawsuit in Mobile County Circuit Court, seeking an injunction against a Baldwin County man and his private investigator.

The lawsuit states that John Quinnelly Sr., has been “maliciously spreading inaccurate and unfounded information that is damaging to the Board, its employees, (Saraland superintendent) Aaron Milner and the school district at-large despite clear and direct warnings and instructions from the Board’s counsel to cease and desist these malicious activities.”

The information disseminated by Quinnelly to Mobile-area media outlets and other area high schools centers around a 15-year-old minor now playing football at Saraland. The 9-1 Spartans finished second in Class 6A, Region 1 and are scheduled to begin the playoffs later this week.

“Quinnelly hired and directed (Eric) Winberg and Winberg, LLC to stalk and harass the family of a 15-year-old minor child and made malicious and false statements attacking the child,” the suit states

Multiple emails to AL.com and other outlets from Quinnelly in the last week suggest the family could be in violation of the AHSAA’s bonafide move rule and therefore the player could be ineligible. Quinnelly’s email states the information he provided was based on a 48-day investigation by Windberg Investigations, LLC.

A preliminary hearing on the case is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning in Mobile. When reached by AL.com, Milner referred any questions to Saraland Board of Education attorney Nash Campbell. Campbell did not immediately return a request for comment.

Saraland is scheduled to host Wetumpka in the first round of the playoffs Friday night. The official AHSAA first-round playoff pairings were released Saturday.

According to the suit, the Saraland Board of Education delivered a cease and desist letter to Quinnelly on July 18 and initially believed he had complied “only to find out Quinnelly was continuing to make false and defamatory statements in public” and “amplified his efforts to harm the plaintiff and its employees by spreading new malicious statements.”

Saraland’s injunction seeks to prohibit the defendants from either directly or indirectly making any verbal, written or any other type of communication that suggests the plaintiffs have violated any AHSAA bylaws or regulations.

AHSAA executive director Alvin Briggs could not comment on the situation or even say whether there as any investigation ongoing.

Quinnelly released the following statement to NBC 15 in Mobile.

“My intentions have never been to defame or harm the Saraland Board of Education, its employees, or any player. I am a father and would never intentionally hurt a child. My intentions are to keep things fair and equal across the playing field. Every member program of the AHSAA should be accountable to abide by the governing rules.

No school or program should be exempt. Upon several tips and sightings in Daphne, I hired a private investigator to see if the ‘bonafide move’ rule was being violated. At the conclusion of the 48-day investigation, I submitted the findings to the AHSAA, the media, and the schools directly affected. Now I’m being sued for defamation and accused of ‘deliberately engaging in oppression, fraud, wantonness, or malice.’”

The complete lawsuit is below.