School district points to ‘conduct’ of suspended Lexington principal, denies damages
After being sued by the suspended principal of Lexington’s Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, Fayette school district officials have responded by saying they’ve acted in “good faith” in addressing the principal’s performance and conduct.
Fayette County Public Schools on Thursday filed a response to the lawsuit filed against them by principal Marlon Ball. Ball has been suspended since November 2, and his attorney Dale Golden said the allegations against him have not been shared with Ball or Golden.
“Any damages and/or adverse job actions alleged to have been suffered by the Plaintiff, which are denied, were proximately and solely caused by the Plaintiff’s own conduct, including but not limited to Plaintiff’s work performance, his own conduct, and/or failure to perform in good faith,” the district said in its response to the lawsuit in Fayette Circuit Court.
Ball’s lawsuit claims district officials’ statements to the media following former Dunbar Athletic Director Jason Howell’s death, which has been investigated as a suicide, created a causal link to a tragic situation. The district announced Ball’s administrative leave in a statement mourning Howell.
The school district’s response said statements made about Ball were “not defamatory, slanderous or libelous.” The reply filed into court records said he had suffered no damage or injury to his reputation.
The document which addressed Ball’s allegations about his extended leave was the district’s answer to an amended lawsuit filed earlier this month by Golden. It alleged Ball was “maliciously” placed on administrative leave. The court document represents the first time since the original lawsuit was filed in February that district officials have publicly commented on the administrative leave.
The district’s response did not provide any details about why Ball was suspended.
“They can take my clients deposition and ask him all the questions they want. We now get to ensure that all proceedings are public and there is complete transparency. To the extent there is an insinuation that there was a problem, I’m sure it could have been articulated in less than five months,” Golden told the Herald-Leader Monday.
In response to allegations in the lawsuit about Ball’s pay, the school district document said that although Ball said he had 13 years experience, he was unable to provide documentation to substantiate two of those years so they paid him for 11 years of experience.
The defendants are “conspiring to keep Mr. Ball on administrative leave until his contract expires and then refuse to renew the contract,” Ball’s attorney said in an amended version of the lawsuit.
The amended lawsuit said Ball can’t get other employment while the investigation is going on and the window of opportunity for him to seek other employment is rapidly closing.
