During his State of the State address kickstarting Oklahoma’s 60th legislative session, Gov. Kevin Stitt recognized the work of a superintendent currently in the middle of litigation against State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, unintentionally (or not) highlighting one of many lawsuits facing Walters and seemingly irritating him in the process.
From wrongful termination claims, to defamation cases, to complaints filed against Walters’ multiple controversial actions as the head of the Oklahoma State Department of Education, Bixby Superintendent Rob Miller’s lawsuit is among the most widely publicized education-related litigation in the state.
Although Miller’s case is currently working its way through the appellate process after a Tulsa County judge denied Walters’ motion to dismiss in December, four other lawsuits against Walters have jury trials scheduled for later this year.
In this roundup, find updates on the jury trials Walters could face in the coming months, as well as an update on the criminal jury trial scheduled for the week of Feb. 24 against former Ringling principal and coach Phil Koons.
Phil Koons’ trial date looms
The jury trial against former Ringling principal and coach Phil Koons is set to begin the week of Feb. 24 in Jefferson County District Court.
Koons was charged Oct. 18, 2023, with one misdemeanor count of “outraging public decency” owing to his alleged actions while leading the Ringling football team. Former players have alleged that Koons was verbally abusive toward them, and he faces a civil lawsuit in federal court. The cases have divided the roughly 1,000-person community in the southwest Oklahoma, with other former players and parents arguing Koons “never said anything that didn’t need to be said.”
Koons had initially pleaded no contest as part of a plea deal, but Jefferson County District Court Judge Dennis Gay rejected the arrangement after hearing victim impact statements from Koons’ former players. Koons was later allowed to change his plea to not guilty, and he now faces a jury trial that could result in jail time, if he is found guilty.
Janessa Bointy’s wrongful termination trial set for June
A federal jury trial in former OSDE employee Janessa Bointy’s wrongful termination lawsuit against Walters is scheduled for Tuesday, June 10.
Bointy filed the case in September 2023, six months after she was fired for violating OSDE’s media policy, according to her complaint.
Bointy had been a school counselor specialist for Project AWARE East since December 2020. Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education) was created to help districts hire mental health professionals to coordinate student behavioral health needs. Its “east” component has served Ada, Atoka, and Checotah Public Schools.
Bointy alleges that Walters and OSDE fired her because of comments she made at an Edmond Public Schools Board of Education meeting about the need for additional child and adolescent mental health support. As a mother of four EPS students, Bointy said she felt compelled to speak following the suicide of a 15-year-old EPS student.
OSDE allegedly learned of Bointy’s comments after Fox 25 aired a television segment about the EPS board meeting and used clips of Bointy — who was referred to as a “concerned parent” — from her two-minute speech.
According to case documents, Walters and OSDE list three reasons for Bointy’s termination: “breach of the confidentiality agreement; violation of defendant OSDE’s media policy; and improper use of time and leave.” Walters alleged Bointy gave her speech during EPS public comments in her professional capacity as a state employee, thus violating OSDE’s media policy.
Bointy claims she was not speaking in her official capacity and was unaware there was a television station in attendance during her comments. Bointy also said she did not directly interview with the station.
Although the case was initially filed in Oklahoma County District Court, Walters succeeded in moving it to federal court owing to the First Amendment questions in the case. U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma Judge Scott Palk is handling the case.
Bointy is seeking actual, compensatory and punitive damages against Walters and OSDE, which she says exceed $10,000. The case is proceeding against Walters in his official and individual capacities, meaning he could be found personally liable for damages against Bointy.
Summer Boismier’s defamation case set for June trial
Along with the recent Oklahoma Ethics Commission investigation into whether certain politically charged posts and social media comments — mainly related to President Donald Trump — violate ethics rules, Walters is already facing litigation related to comments he made on Twitter about a teacher during his 2022 campaign for state superintendent of public instruction.
Former Norman High School English teacher Summer Boismier’s federal defamation case against Walters is also set for trial June 10, but a recent filing from Walters could place it on hold.
According to her complaint, Boismier eventually moved to New York owing to the “threats of violence against her” and “emotional injury following the incident.” She filed her lawsuit in August 2023 against Walters seeking damages in excess of $75,000.
Just days into the 2022-2023 school year, Boismier resigned from NPS after making headlines for covering her classroom display of books and posting a QR code that linked to the Books Unbanned webpage of the Brooklyn Public Library.
According to Boismier’s complaint, Walters made a series of “widely published” public comments criticizing Boismier after she “engaged in First Amendment speech criticizing new laws and policies he championed.”
Walters said at the time in a series of social media posts that Boismier displaying the QR code in her classroom allowed students to access “pornographic material.”
In August 2022 — following Boismier’s resignation — Walters posted two letters with statements attacking her character and capabilities as an educator. Boismier alleges Walters knew the comments were false and misleading.
In his initial letter, Walters said Boismier’s actions led to her “firing” as an Norman High School english teacher, before Walters retracted the initial letter and republished a second letter correcting his comment regarding the status of Boismier’s employment:
“In light of recent events involving Norman High School English Teacher Summer Boismier, I am asking the Oklahoma State Department of Education to revoke her teaching certificate immediately. Upon review of the situation, the teacher resigned rather than face removal. There is no place for a teacher with a liberal political agenda in the classroom. Ms. Boismier’s providing access to banned and pornographic material to students is unacceptable and we must ensure she doesn’t go to another district and do the same thing. This action must be dealt with swiftly and with respect to all our kids and parents.
Teachers are one of our state’s greatest assets and it is unfortunate that one of then had caused such harm and shame for the entire profession. This type of behavior will not be tolerated in Oklahoma and I speak for parents across the state who are demanding swift and immediate action.”
Boismier claimed she was not facing removal from her position at NPS but said she resigned in part because of the “suspicion” she faced from parents and other community members.
Walters was campaigning for his current position as the state superintendent of public instruction at the time. He placed the letter on his official Oklahoma letterhead as secretary of education, a Cabinet position he held at the time.
Boismier’s complaint lists multiple “false representations” Walters wrote in his letter, including:
- “Plaintiff was engaged in the distribution of child pornography to minors”;
- “Plaintiff was morally unfit to teach”‘
- “Plaintiff had been fired by the Norman Public Schools”;
- “Plaintiff had violated Oklahoma law”‘ and
- “Plaintiff represented a danger to minor children.”
In Walters’ response to the complaint, he denied most of the accusations against him and said he is not liable to relief as Boismier failed to prove he acted with actual malice in regard to his comments about her.
Walters also said he is protected under the liberties provided by the First Amendment, absolute privilege for executive communications and the common-law fair comment privilege. Walters’ attorneys have argued applicability of the fair comment privilege as a qualified protection on the basis that Walters’ comments involved matters of public concern, are based on true or privileged facts, represent the opinion of the speaker and were not made for the sole purpose of causing harm.
After Walters took office, he began moving forward with an application to revoke Boismier’s teaching certificate. Even though it expired on its own June 30, members of the State Board of Education voted to “sign off” on a hearing officer’s proposed order at their August meeting. After that meeting, Walters told reporters the action revoked Boismier’s certificate.
On Feb. 3, Walters filed a 94-page motion for summary judgment in the case, arguing that Boismier qualified as a “public figure” under Oklahoma law as a public high school teacher and that Walters’ comments about her were protected speech. If U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma Judge Bernard Jones rules in favor of Walters and grants summary judgment, the case would be dismissed, avoiding the June 10 jury trial. Coincidentally, Jones also presided over KFOR’s recent lawsuit against Walters and OSDE executive communications director Dan Isett, which culminated in a settlement requiring the TV station to receive similar treatment as other media.
Matthew Colwell, Cheryl McGee wrongful termination cases set for August trials
In May 2023, Matt Langston — the Texas-based consultant for Walters’ 2022 campaign who became OSDE’s chief policy advisor — was named along with Walters as a defendant in two separate wrongful termination lawsuits. Former OSDE employees Matthew Colwell and Cheryl McGee were fired from the agency within 24 hours of each other, and they filed separate but almost identical lawsuits against Walters and Langston in both their official and individual capacities.
Both cases are scheduled for trial in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma Judge Charles Goodwin’s courtroom Tuesday, Aug. 12.
Colwell, a former OSDE program manager of school success from January 2022 to May 2023, and McGee, a former OSDE executive director of school-based mental health from August 2019 to May 2023, filed litigation seeking monetary relief and a court declaration of “unlawful prior restraint on speech,” regarding an email Langston sent to all OSDE employees.
According to case documents, Langston sent all OSDE employees an email threatening termination against employees who “‘leaked’ internal documents to the press,” which the plaintiffs claim was an attempt to “intimidate and chill the First Amendment rights of employees” and “to retaliate against employees who shared information about matters of public concern.”
The plaintiffs allege Langston’s May 25, 2023, “keep quiet” email was intentionally curated to trap and find state employees who shared agency communications to persons outside OSDE. The different versions of the memo contained subtle changes that supposedly allowed OSDE leadership to identify employees who gave the letter to members of the media.
Langston admitted his participation in devising and setting up the email, but he denied the email was a “trap.”
Hours after Langston sent the email, McGee was fired. The letter terminating McGee’s employment read:
We regret to inform you that your employment with the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) is being terminated immediately. This decisions has been made due to a breach of confidentiality by leaking internal agency emails to the media.
Our medial policy clearly outlines employees should not engage with the media directly but instead redirect inquiries to the designated press secretary. Despite these clear guidelines and a prior email communication explicitly stating the leaking agency emails would result in termination, we have confirmed that you have violated these policies by disclosing internal agency emails to the press without authorization.
Colwell received a similar email May 26, 2023.
McGee’s complaint stated OSDE terminated her employment based on her “perceived” speech and denies sharing the email or any other communication outside the department, and she said the First Amendment right to free speech protects her. In his reply, Walters used those claims against her.
The complaint asserted “there is no governmental interest outweighing Ms. McGee’s First Amendment rights,” but Walters argued the plaintiff cannot claim free speech protection if she denied participating in any “speech.”
In Colwell’s case, the former agency employee admitted to sharing information with Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s office but claimed the matter fell outside of the purported termination policy.
“The Department of Education is a public, constitutional agency of the State of Oklahoma and is charged with advancing education of students in the State of Oklahoma,” Colwell wrote in the complaint. “Given the nature and scope of the activities of the Department of Education, its activities are matters of public concern. The information shared was a memorandum explaining that Walters’ proposed teacher pay plan contravened the requirements of federal and state laws and could have the effect of costing the state of Oklahoma approximately $18 million.”
Both plaintiffs claim any “perceived” or “actual” speech was made outside their official capacities and said they shared the information or alleged “matters of public concern” as citizens.
In June 2023, Walters and Langston filed two motions to dismiss the cases against them in their official and individual capacities. Walters again argued he is protected under qualified immunity in his individual capacity and said plaintiffs failed to demonstrate any violation of constitutional rights or subsequent injury. In Walters’ official capacity, he urged the judge to dismiss the case owing to a “lack of standing,” and he also stated the plaintiffs acted within the scope of their professional capacity and that the matters shared were not of public concern.
Federal Judge Charles Goodwin eventually granted Walters’ and Langston’s motions to dismiss the cases against them in their official capacity for both lawsuits, but he denied the motions filed in the defendants’ individual capacities in August 2024.
On Dec. 27, McGee filed a motion to compel discovery, a motion Colwell mirrored Dec. 30. Both of those motions are pending as of the publication of this article.
(Update: This article was updated at 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 10, to correct reference to the date of Phil Koons’ jury trial, which was listed incorrectly on OSCN.net.)
