Federal judge rules ousted KHP leader Mark Bruce can continue lawsuit against Laura Kelly

A federal judge dismissed two of three claims brought by ousted Kansas Highway Patrol superintendent Mark Bruce, but he will be allowed to continue his lawsuit against Gov. Laura Kelly's administration.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree ruled Friday on a motion for summary judgment in Bruce's case against Kelly, chief of staff Will Lawrence and former KHP superintendent Herman Jones.

Crabtree allowed Bruce to continue on a claim that Kelly and Jones violated his constitutional right to due process.

But Crabtree dismissed two claims that Lawrence violated Bruce's constitutional right of due process and engaged in tortious interference with a prospective business relationship. Bruce had also claimed Jones violated his free speech rights, but that count was previously dismissed by the court.

Bruce can take his one remaining claim to a jury, arguing that Kelly gave him no option but to resign, thus depriving him of returning to his previous job in the highway patrol. If he succeeds, the governor would have to make Bruce a major again.

A jury trial in Topeka is scheduled for Feb. 6 and is estimated to last for five days. But Crabtree gave both sides two weeks to explain whether they would like to keep the jury trial scheduled.

Bruce's attorneys didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither did spokespeople for the governor's office.

Bruce started as a state trooper in 1989 and moved up the ranks to major before then-Gov. Sam Brownback appointed him superintendent in 2015.

When Kelly took office in January 2019, she initially retained Bruce as KHP superintendent. But he was placed on administrative leave and forced to resign months later amid allegations of mishandling sexual misconduct and domestic violence scandals at the agency.

The court order states that after Kelly told Lawrence she wanted to make a change in KHP leadership and provided him "a lot of latitude" in how to do so, Lawrence summoned Bruce to a meeting on March 28, 2019, where he informed him, "We need you to resign."

Bruce subsequently resigned, using a pre-prepared resignation letter that Lawrence handed to him. He then emailed the next day about retiring from the KHP.

Under Kansas law, a governor may appoint a KHP superintendent and terminate them at will. But Kansas law also requires that if the superintendent is terminated, then they can return to the rank they held before being promoted to superintendent.

It is disputed whether Bruce was given the choice of returning to major, or if he wasn't explicitly told, if he should of known that was an option due to his experience. The ultimate success of Bruce's lawsuit depends at least in part on whether he voluntarily resigned or if he was coerced into resigning.

For the purposes of summary judgment, the judge had to use the version of events most favorable to Bruce. Crabtree said there is enough evidence that a jury could potentially find that Bruce "had no choice but to resign."

Bruce and the Kelly administration disagree about the details of what was said during the meeting, including the reasons Kelly requested his resignation, whether he was told he could return to major and if he was told he would get a $5,000 payout for unused time off if he didn't return to major.

Jason Alatidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Ousted KHP leader Mark Bruce can continue lawsuit against Laura Kelly