A lawsuit has been filed against the Christian County Board of Education, Superintendent Mary Ann Gemmill, the district director of finance, and an employee of a local sporting goods store by a former school system employee who claims he was pressured to resign last month under false allegations.
Charles Blake Ladson was a youth services coordinator and assistant basketball coach at Christian County High School when he was told to purchase athletic shoes for underprivileged youth, according to the complaint filed March 19th by attorney Daniel Thomas.
Ladson purchased the shoes at Hibbett Sports and used his pre-existing personal account at the store. The complaint cites district documentation in stating a manager at Hibbett contacted the school system on December 17th and said she was concerned with purchases made by Ladson on the school system credit card.
The Hibbett employee reportedly said the initial purchase seemed legit, but that items were returned or exchanged—possibly for adult shoes instead of student shoes.
The manager said she could not print out Ladson’s personal account, but could allow the school system finance director to use her cell phone to take a screen shot of the computer. Ladson’s attorney alleges this was a violation of Hibbett’s privacy policy and a violation of Ladson’s privacy by the school system.
The complaint says a timeline established by the school system did not state there was any action taken by Ladson to be dishonest, fraudulent or that the student recipient of the shoes did not in fact receive the shoes in accordance with the purchase orders.
A written conclusion by the district stated the original purchase order “was not used properly,” that “multiple transactions at different stores were completed,” and “this activity for the purchase was not completed as originally approved by the Christian County Board of Education staff.”
The timeline also identified eight additional pre-authorized purchases made by Ladson in his official capacity. Ladson argues he was not provided with that timeline or any other documentation until February 1st, when he was requested to meet with Superintendent Gemmill and other officials at the district office.
The complaint says Ladson denied any wrongdoing at the meeting when presented orally with four separate issues, including the shoe purchase order. It quotes Gemmill as saying auditors were coming in and that Ladson was given the option of resigning or hiring an attorney while the district conducted an investigation.
Ladson was reportedly told that the police had not been contacted at that time and that the media would learn of any potential law enforcement investigation.
An unidentified third party in the meeting is quoted as saying the matter would be handled in-house if Ladson chose to resign.
The complaint says that without legal counsel and without knowledge of his due process rights, Ladson prepared and submitted a letter of resignation on February 1st under duress. Thomas writes that Ladson was concerned a “criminal investigation would damage his ongoing ministries and his volunteer participation in the re-establishment of a youth sports program in Hopkinsville.”
After meeting with his attorney, he submitted a letter withdrawing his resignation on February 6th.
Thomas quotes district policy that states the “demotion” of a classified employee is made by the superintendent, who should make notification at the first scheduled school board meeting—which did not happen until February 27th. Ladson’s withdrawal of his resignation is not noted in the board minutes.
He cites previous opinions from the Kentucky Attorney General in contending a superintendent’s actions are not final until placed on the minutes of the next board meeting. He argues that not notifying the board of the resignation withdrawal was a violation of policy.
Thomas argues there was a breach of policy by the school system, a breach of Ladson’s contract by the district, and violation of his privacy by the school system and the Hibbett Sports manager.
He is requesting reinstatement to his duties at Christian County High School, back pay and benefits, and an amount of financial damages to be decided at trial.
Christian County School System Spokesperson John Rittenhouse says the district is aware of the lawsuit, but has no comment on the measure. Bowling Green attorney Mike Owsley is representing the school system on the matter.
The complaint only represents Ladson’s side of the events.