An attorney representing the Jefferson City Public Schools indicated this week that former journalism teacher Karen Ray's lawsuit against the district originally may have stemmed from a misunderstanding.
Tom Mickes, JCPS's attorney of record for the case, noted that prior to Ray's decision to leave the district, she was the one and only teacher responsible for overseeing the school's two main student publications - the Red & Black and the Marcullus.
"The classes were popular, and enrollment was increasing," he said. "And, so, the desire was to open up more sections for students to enroll in. The plan was that Ms. Ray would be in charge of the whole shooting match."
Mickes suggested that was why Ray was asked to train a younger teacher who would help her with the program.
It's unclear how those circumstances morphed into a lawsuit against the district alleging that Ray was subjected to age and gender discrimination and harassment by school administrators.
According to Ray's lawsuit, she was employed as a faculty member - teaching all journalism classes from beginning to advanced and serving as faculty adviser for the school newspaper and yearbook publications - when former Principal Jeff Dodson stated that she was being replaced as newspaper adviser to "relieve some of the stress of the job."
Ray's suit contends Dodson stated he was giving the newspaper to a male teacher who lacked the proper certification to teach the courses.
The "defendant's answer" that Mickes filed Sept. 5 on behalf of the school district denies most of the allegations of Ray's lawsuit - a common and expected part of the process.
"An answer is a general denial," explained Anthony Dewitt, a Jefferson City-based attorney working on behalf of Ray. He noted the document is really meant to illuminate issues in a plaintiff's complaint that will need to be fleshed out through the course of discovery.
One of the contentions of Ray's lawsuit is that Dodson threatened to withhold a positive recommendation if she did not agree to train the less-experienced staff member.
Ray's petition contends she resigned on April 5, 2013, because of a hostile work environment, but JCPS's answer denies that was the case.
The district's answer points out Ray wrote an e-mail to administrators indicating the No. 1 reason she was leaving the district "is the fact that she misses her family too much to stay two and a half hours away from them."
According to the answer, Ray also stated: "I appreciate all of your help and support the three and a half years I was here" and "I appreciate (Dodson's) kind words to (Nixa High School Principal Mark McGehee). It means a lot to me, and know that I will always help you in kind if you ever need me."
The school district's answer also offered a different interpretation of an altercation that allegedly occurred outside Ray's classroom door.
According to her lawsuit, Ray attempted to open her door to return to her classroom when an assistant principal put his hand on the door, shut it and told her, "You're not going anywhere!"
A second assistant principal placed his hand on Ray's shoulder, stating, "You need to calm down!"
Ray interpreted these events as harassing and intimidating. In contrast, the school district admits the request to calm down was said in "a concerned tone."
Mickes said, "The only people who know what happened were the people who were there. Some of this debate is going to be "he-said, she-said.' Other things are going to be pretty clear, based on the documentation."
It's not yet clear if the dispute stemmed from who would receive the extracurricular stipends.
According to this year's stipend schedule, a teacher with 11 or more years of experience would receive $4,388 to serve as newspaper sponsor and $4,388 to serve as yearbook sponsor. The stipends are comparable to the last year Ray worked in the district.
(Currently, at the high school, two teachers receive one stipend apiece.)
Ray's lawsuit contends the staffing changes meant she was losing the stipend the newspaper class provided. It also contends the work environment caused her to seek employment in Nixa at a salary $10,000 less than her Jefferson City pay.
The school district denies both those allegations.
In an interview Thursday, Mickes didn't clarify what the school district's plans were for the distribution of the stipends if Ray had not resigned.
He noted administrators did hope Ray would have continued to be a leader of the school's journalism program, and he added if she was displeased with how events unfolded, she could have turned to the district's grievance process for a remedy.
"If she felt she was being treated unfairly, she could have filed a grievance and brought the issue forward," he said. "She was always viewed as the leading person in that group and was complimented about her ability in the classroom."
Mickes said he expects the future legal processes will attempt to show inconsistencies in Ray's story.
"She was the most-experienced person," he said. "Why would you want to remove her?"
Ray's lead attorney, Mark Buchanan, did not respond to a request for an interview about the case. But DeWitt, who is working with Buchanan, said he could not comment on the case's specifics.
"Under Missouri's ethical rules, we are not allowed to make any statements that might have an impact on the jury pool," he said.
"To explore underlying facts of the litigation that don't appear in the public record might give the impression, to the court and the other side, that I was attempting to try the case in the media," DeWitt added. "And that's just not how how we do things. We believe in the justice system, and we believe in the rules of evidence.
"So if we expect the other side to respect those rules, we have to respect them, too."
He noted more information will be discovered when depositions are taken.
"We'll figure out where the truth lies," he added. "Then it will either go to court or we'll wind up settling the matter. One way or another, it will be resolved. We can't comment, other than to say we look forward to litigating this and to having a fair hearing in the justice system."