Orange County Board of Education Trustee Tim Shaw – who last year briefly quit the board before being re-appointed to the seat – saw a court challenge to his appointment turned down late Wednesday.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Martha Gooding denied a request for a preliminary injunction filed by a resident who sued the Board of Education, alleging that the board’s appointment of their former colleague was illegal.

Shaw said Wednesday that he was pleased with the ruling and described the lawsuit as an attempt to smear his name while he is seeking re-election in June.

“This is all about giving me bad headlines,” he said.

Shaw stepped down from his OCBE post last November while facing a possible conflict-of-interest lawsuit. At the time, he served on both the OCBE and the La Habra City Council. He later resigned the council seat so he could be re-appointed to the OCBE. On Dec. 21, the board voted 3-1 to appoint Shaw to his old job over six other applicants during a rushed session where the outcome seemed preordained.

Gooding’s ruling agreed with the OCBE’s attorney, who argued that a lawsuit could only be brought against the elected official after the challenge is OK’d by the state attorney general, a process called a “quo warranto” action.

That process is already under way. Last week, Shaw was served with legal documents notifying him that a quo warranto application has been submitted to state Attorney General Rob Bonta. It’s unclear if that legal filing, which could pave the way for another lawsuit, will be resolved before the June election.

Attorney Lee Fink, representing La Habra resident Sean Michael Wright in the lawsuit against the OCBE, said he’s continuing to pursue the issue before the attorney general “to make sure we’re protecting the public’s interests.”