BRANSON MO NEWS: An attorney representing a former Reeds Spring school administrator recently referred to a proposal by school officials to have his client’s suit dismissed from court as “malarkey.”
The response is the latest in several court actions that began when the administrator made sexual harassment claims.
The Reeds Spring School District reached a $500,000 settlement in February with former Intermediate School Principal Jodi Heckler (whose last name was Gronvold at the time) over sexual harassment allegations against the district’s superintendent. A few months later, Heckler filed a second petition in Stone County Court, citing retaliation and discrimination. The petition, filed July 3 by Heckler’s attorney Jay Kirksey, names Reeds Spring School Board President Earl Johnson and board member Rob Barringer as defendants, but makes clear that other individuals will likely be named as defendants in the future.
According to the July 3 petition, the defendants engaged in retaliatory conduct of “speaking ill, bad mouthing, spreading derogatory rumors or statements” that placed Heckler in a “false light,” the petition states.
Johnson and Barringer have repeated statements that “there’s more to the story” and “we just can’t tell you what really happened” to district patrons, according to the petition. It states those efforts cast Heckler in “an unfavorable light” and that comments suggest Heckler had done “some horrific thing to explain how or why.”
Motion to dismiss & clarify
In August, the Reeds Spring School District filed a motion to either have the petition dismissed or to require a definite statement from Heckler and her attorney.
According to the court documents, Heckler’s counts include failing to identify the John or Jane Does and to file a separate cause of action for punitive damages.
The motion calls for a more definite statement in order to clarify Heckler’s allegations in her petition “ …
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