Norman teacher filed defamation suit over HB 1775 saga. Now Ryan Walters aims to dismiss case.
Attorneys for state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters have asked a federal judge to dismiss a defamation suit filed by a former Norman teacher who clashed with Walters over what sort of books should be available for high-school students to read.
In a response to the teacher's lawsuit filed this week, Walters said Summer Boismier “cannot point to any actionable false statement made by Walters, nor does she meet the standard for alleging a defamation claim as a public figure” because “she does not allege any actual malice on the part of Walters.”
Walters also claims in his response that Boismier “has failed to meet this standard for alleging that Walters acted with actual malice. Indeed, the term ‘malice’ does not appear once in (her) pleadings.”
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Bernard Jones. No hearing dates have been set. Boismier’s attorney, Brady Henderson, did not return messages left Wednesday by The Oklahoman.
Oklahoma teacher protested HB 1775, Ryan Walters' Twitter claims
Boismier resigned from Norman Public Schools in August 2022 after drawing attention to her protest against House Bill 1775, an Oklahoma law that prohibits schools from covering certain concepts on race and gender. In her classroom, Boismier covered the shelves with red butcher paper with a sign written in black marker that read "books the state doesn't want you to read." She also posted a QR code to the Brooklyn Public Library, which gives students online access to banned books.
Boismier sued Walters in federal court in late August 2023. In her lawsuit, she said letters published by Walters on his public accounts on X (formerly known as Twitter) in August 2022 – when he served as Gov. Kevin Stitt’s secretary of education – contained “false and misleading statements,” including that Boismier had been fired from Norman Public Schools, that she had distributed pornography to students and that she had “sexualized her classroom.”
Boismier said in her lawsuit she “was a teacher rather than a politician or public figure” when those letters were published.
“Using this public and widely-followed Twitter account, Walters published the false criminal allegations so that they would ultimately be seen by thousands of people,” she said in the lawsuit, adding she “was forced to move from her home in Oklahoma due to the threat of violence against her and emotional injury.”
In the response filed this week, Walters argues that “(T)he circumstances of Boismier’s leaving the teaching profession in Oklahoma drew her into a particular public controversy as news agencies reported the event and it became the subject of public discussion. As such, (she) is considered a public figure for the limited range of issues on which Walters opined in the letters published to his social media.”
Walters pushed for revocation of Boismier's teaching license
In November 2022, Walters – who already had called for Boismier’s teaching certificate to be revoked when he served as Stitt’s secretary of education – was elected as state schools superintendent. Walters ordered his staff at the Oklahoma State Department of Education to investigate Boismier and another teacher for “indoctrinating” students.
As superintendent, Walters moved to revoke Boismier’s teaching license, but Boismier asked for a hearing, and at that hearing last June, an assistant attorney general ruled the department “failed to prove” Boismier had violated any state law.
Despite the ruling, Walters said he intended to finalize the license revocation in August. However, no action has been taken by the state Board of Education – which would have to vote on any such proposal.
Boismier now lives in New York and works at the Brooklyn Public Library, but has continued to fight against Walters’ efforts.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Ryan Walters asks for defamation lawsuit with Oklahoma teacher be dismissed
