Court dismisses two of five claims in former employee's lawsuit against USD 475

Jun. 3—The court ruled to dismiss two claims and allow three others by Nikki Wolf, former JCHS employee, to proceed in her lawsuit case against Geary County School District after the defendants requested the court dismiss all five of Wolf's claims in the case.

Wolf, former head of security at Junction City High School, was fired from her position in 2020 on the grounds that she violated policy on racial and disability harassment and the Title VI Civil Rights Amendment.

This followed an incident on Oct. 20, 2020, when Wolf questioned a student about the head scarf she was wearing that violated the policy of the school concerning headwear and then brought her to the principal. The student, Patience Okemba, a sophomore at JCHS at the time, requested an exemption to the school's no headwear policy on Sept. 11, 2020 so that she could wear a hijab at school.

Wolf filed a lawsuit against the school district last year, stating that she was unaware of an exemption and that the exemption, although requested in September, was not granted by the school until after she approached the student on Oct. 20, 2020.

"Defendants terminated Ms. Wolf to hold her out as a sacrificial lamb and to support the false narrative that Ms. Wolf was the one who acted with discriminatory intentions, and not the school," the lawsuit reads. "Defendants covered up their own gross negligence and discrimination by terminating Plaintiff and using her as a scapegoat, to force Plaintiff to take the blame for Defendants' own wrongdoing."

The lawsuit, filed Oct. 27, 2021, asks the Geary County District Court to grant judgement against the defendants for an amount in excess of $75,000, for the plaintiff's costs and for "further relief the court or jury deems just and equitable."

The defendants requested in April that the court dismiss all Wolf's claims for failure to state legally viable claims for relief. The court published a memorandum decision in May.

In argument against Count I — Breach of Implied Contract of Employment, the school district argued that there was not an implied contract in existence with Wolf and that an implied contract for her job is not legal in Kansas.

The court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss Count I.

"The court has no law before it that would have permitted USD 475 to make an implied contract with Plaintiff," the memorandum states. "Even if Plaintiff showed the existence of an implied contract, the law would not allow a trier of fact to find damages for the contract's violation because such a contract would be void."

In Count II — Negligence, Wolf argued that the school district negligently failed to follow the proper procedure regarding the student's religious exception and that if it hadn't been negligent, Wolf would not have been fired. The school district argued that because Wolf was an at-will employee, there was no duty for it to violate when terminating her employment.

The court granted the motion to dismiss Count II, stating that it is unclear to the court how an employer can breach a duty of employment to an employee when the employee is an at-will employee.

"Defendant had the power to terminate Plaintiff's employment for an reason — good, bad or indifferent," the memorandum states.

In argument against Count III — Defamation, the school district alleged that Wolf failed to adequately plead the claim and that whatever statements members of the district made were necessary for effective governance of the school.

The court determined that Wolf did indeed adequately plead the claim, since she holds that the termination letter itself is defamation and claims it was shared with third parties. The court also determined that whether a privilege exists depends on the facts of the case.

"The court cannot determine off the pleadings whether the law mandates a finding of privilege, because the facts Plaintiff brings forth suggest there was no need to write down and share with third parties the reasons for the termination in order to effectively govern the school," the memorandum reads.

Therefore, the court denied the request to dismiss the defamation cause of action.

As for Counts IV and V, the Intentional and Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress, the court denied the motion to dismiss both claims.

The school district argued that termination cannot rise to a claim for infliction of emotional distress. In the memorandum decision, the court stated that Wolf is alleging much more than a termination, essentially that the school district called her a racist and a religious bigot and that the distress caused her to exhibit physical ailments.

A summary judgment hearing in the case is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Feb. 27, 2023, and a jury trial is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on April 24, 2023, in the Geary County District Court.