Another defamation lawsuit has been filed against Oklahoma’s top education official, this time by the superintendent of Bixby Public Schools.
Bixby schools chief Rob Miller filed the lawsuit against state Superintendent Ryan Walters on Thursday in Tulsa County District Court. A former Norman High School teacher made similar allegations against Walters in a federal lawsuit filed last year.
Walters called Miller a “liar,” a “clown” and a “true embarrassment” while speaking with reporters after an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting July 31. The state superintendent also claimed the Bixby district has “all kinds of financial problems.”
These comments are defamatory, encompassing libel and slander, and cast a false light on Miller, the lawsuit claims. Miller asked a judge to award him at least $75,000 from Walters, plus the cost of attorney fees and any punitive damages decided at trial.
“Superintendent Walters continues to put out defaming comments about me and my character and about the state of finances here in Bixby,” Miller told Oklahoma Voice. “At some point, enough’s enough, and somebody needs to hold him accountable.”
A spokesperson for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, Dan Isett, said the lawsuit is a “political stunt by a man with a vendetta, not a legal case.”
“No one is surprised that Miller would abuse the legal system by filing a frivolous lawsuit after trying for days to defame Superintendent Walters in the media,” Isett said.
Walters made the comments about Miller in response to the Bixby superintendent’s complaints that the state Department of Education had not released estimates for school districts’ annual federal Title I funding, which support students living in poverty.
Miller’s lawsuit states that Title I estimates are “vitally important” to his district’s budget planning, and not having the projections has caused “significant problems.”
Oklahoma law defines libel as a false or malicious statement that exposes a person to public hatred, contempt or ridicule. Slander, under state law, damages a person with respect to his or her trade. However, state law protects speech that expresses an opinion and criticisms of official acts of public officials.
Walters already faces a slander and libel lawsuit from former Norman High School teacher Summer Boismier.
Boismier contends Walters defamed her when he accused her of sharing access to pornographic material because she shared a QR code linking to a library catalog containing banned books.
He incorrectly claimed Norman Public Schools fired Boismier. She and the school district maintain she resigned of her own volition and never faced disciplinary action.
Boismier sued Walters in Oklahoma City federal court, asking a judge to order Walters to pay her $75,000 or more.
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