Two Jefferson City Public Schools employees allege in two recently filed lawsuits the district and some of its officials discriminated against them based on retaliation and gender, which created a hostile work environment that prevented them from performing their duties, and left them feeling unwelcome, singled-out and intimidated.
The allegations by Tammy Ferry and Gretchen Guitard arose in the aftermath of the Karen Ray trial last May. In that sex and age discrimination case, a jury awarded Ray - the former Jefferson City High School journalism teacher - $225,000 in punitive damages, plus attorneys' fees and $24,000 in damages for a hostile work environment that forced her to leave the district.
Tammy Ferry has been employed with the district since 2008, and was the instructional technology coordinator at the time of the Ray trial. She said she was served a subpoena to testify, and provided a videotaped deposition played in open court.
In her testimony that supported Ray's allegations, Ferry also testified she had felt previously victimized by sexual harassment and retaliation in the district. Ferry said she had pursued her complaints through the grievance process, including a presentation to the Board of Education.
Her own lawsuit's court documents state she was also subpoenaed to testify as a witness in the Laura Cooper sex and age discrimination suit scheduled for trial last September, but Cooper was awarded a $255,000 out-of-court settlement from the district.
Ferry's suit states: "I have been retaliated against for giving my testimony as part of plaintiff Karen Ray's case."
She said retaliation following her testimony in the Ray trial has taken different forms, but some events stand out for her:
She was told her job duties were going to be "morphed and changed," but has not yet been given specifics;
Her employment contract for the 2016-17 school year was not issued until well after her previous contract had expired, and months after other staff members had been issued their contracts;
She has not been given a written job evaluation and has not had any conversation with her supervisor about her job performance.
Ferry also states her supervisor stopped responding to her emails about her daily job duties after she testified; she said he didn't respond to the emails until she asked in writing if he had been receiving them. He apologized and said he would make a point to respond, but she said communication has been "spotty at best" since, and what communications have occurred do not answer most of her questions.
She said this has left her unable to adequately perform her duties at work, "to the extent that I am now out of the loop with necessary current information as staff contact me for support."
Ferry is listed by the district as a tech support. Her supervisor is the district's director of technology, Joe Martin, and he is a defendant in the suit.
In the lawsuit, she alleges she was passed over for a promotion in 2015.
Superintendent Larry Linthacum is also a defendant in Ferry's suit.
Linthacum and Chief Financial and Chief Operating Officer Jason Hoffman are the defendants in Guitard's suit. Guitard is the district's director of curriculum and staff services, and has been employed with the district since 2006.
She alleges she "suffered continual attacks on her job performance, lack of support for secretarial help, and continued harassment, bullying and discrimination" from the district, specifically Linthacum and Hoffman.
On Nov. 15, Guitard said her contract was not renewed for the 2017-18 school year. She felt this and other cited issues arose as retaliation against her for opposing discrimination in the workplace, for her association with Ferry and others involved in the Ray trial and for filing discrimination complaints with the Missouri Human Rights Commission.
She specifically alleges in her suit discussions about her job performance over the summer revolved more around discussions of the Ray trial, receipt of her performance evaluation was delayed by months and poor markings for her in several areas of that evaluation were outside of the norm from past evaluations.
She also said she was given vague descriptions of job expectations at the time, and cuts to the hours of her assistant felt retaliatory to her.
Ferry and Guitard's suits are asking for actual and punitive damages, and attorneys' fees.
The district's assigned legal counsel in both suits is Chris Rackers, a partner in Schreimann, Rackers & Francka, L.L.C.
"The district is committed to providing a lawful environment for everyone - teachers, administrators, and students. We absolutely deny the allegations and will vigorously defend the district in both cases," Rackers said in an email statement Wednesday.
Ferry and Guitard's counsel is Dennis E. Egan, of Kansas City. He specializes in employment law, and was also Ray and Cooper's attorney.
The only hearing scheduled in either suit as of Wednesday evening was for Guitard's - a counsel status hearing June 2. There were also no hearings scheduled in either of the district's lawsuits that allege the state's Human Rights Commission did not follow proper procedure, and therefore the commission did not have the authority to issue the women their right-to-sue letters when it did.