RIGGINS, ID – A former Riggins school bus driver has sued the Salmon River Joint School District #243 and its superintendent, Trisha Simonson, claiming he was fired last month over a letter to a local newspaper regarding “hotly contested issues of public concern, including sexually explicit and/or otherwise harmful materials available to minors in the school library.” The lawsuit, filed in Idaho’s U.S. District Court yesterday, centers on Keith Markley’s letter to the editor which was published by the Idaho County Free Press on February 1st.
The topic of such materials has been hotly debated in school districts, communities, legislatures, and even Congress in recent months, including in Idaho.
On Monday, the State House of Representatives passed House Bill 314 on a 40-30 vote. It would prohibit libraries from distributing what lawmakers consider “obscene materials.” The measure’s sponsor is Representative Jaron Crane (R-Nampa); it is the second version of the bill the House has considered during this year’s legislative session.
Markley, who lives in New Meadows, was employed as a District bus driver between November 28, 2022, and February 6, 2023. He met with Simonson on February 9th “because she did not like the content of his Letter to the Editor,” according to the lawsuit. The school board then ratified Simonson’s decision to fire Markley.
Since his termination, Markley claims his First Amendment rights were violated and he has suffered financial loss from his loss of employment with the District, “as well as reputational harm the Defendants have caused him.”
Markley claims he wrote the letter after hours, on his private time, and as a private citizen and parent.
Prior to the letter to the editor, Simonson had asked Markley to remove a sign from his property on December 15, 2022 and he complied.
“Even though Mr. Markley did not believe Simonson was properly directing him to remove the sign, he believed that he might face retaliatory action from the District or Simonson if he did not do so,” court documents say. “In a continued effort to help rectify the library materials problem, on January 10, 2023, Mr. Markley met with Simonson and a member of the school board, Eric Hook, to discuss possible changes to the District’s library materials policy. His intent was to both work collaboratively with the District and make the public aware of the problem.”
Markley wrote the Letter to the Editor on February 1, 2023 in which he expressed his personal opposition to exposing children to the sexually explicit or otherwise harmful materials found in public and school libraries.
“Mr. Markley emphasized the importance of safeguarding children in the District from these types of materials and how he hoped to work collaboratively with the District on this problem. In fact, he commended the District for taking steps in a positive direction when issues were brought to their attention,” the lawsuit says. “Mr. Markley’s Letter to the Editor included several statements of opinion that reflect differences between Mr. Markley and the school administration as to the preferable manner of operating District schools.”
Markley claims his letter “contained no statements that were knowingly false or reckless.”
In her termination response letter to Markley, Simonson says classified employees are regarded as at-will employees and “may be dismissed at the will of either party and the employment relationship may be terminated at any time for any or no reason.”
Simonson also told Markley that she in fact did not like his letter to the editor.
“You stated in the letter, “that our school website (the counselor’s page) was promoting foul websites”. This is untrue and slanderous. The Counselor’s page had a list of resources with links to other resources and websites. Those websites also have links to resources and websites. This was not/is not a promotion of those subsequent sites. The district cannot control outside websites, nor see the material you refer to, as our filters block any/all content of that nature. I appreciated you saying that the district “acted quickly to remove the foul promotions”, however it continued to imply that we were aware and promoting the content,” Simonson’s letter says.
Her letter also expressed concern about the morale of District staff in response to Markley’s letter to the editor.
“Multiple staff members reported that your letter was upsetting. As this is the second time I have had to speak to you about speaking badly about the district, I could see that this was not a good fit,” Simonson wrote.
The lawsuit says a superintendent’s concern about staff morale cannot justify the District’s actions.
“Further, no evidence was proffered to show any employee’s job duties were disrupted or that the Letter to the Editor somehow prevented normal functioning in the District,” the lawsuit says.
Markley claims that for those reasons, the District cannot satisfy its burden of proving that its efficiency interest outweighed his free speech interest in writing his letter to the editor.
“Firing Mr. Markley was an adverse employment action. Importantly, it would deter any reasonable person from continuing to exercise his or her right to free speech,” the lawsuit adds. “The threat of dismissal from public employment is a potent means of inhibiting speech.”
“Since at least 1968, it has been clearly established by the United States Supreme Court that public employees may not be terminated for expressing their opinions on matters of public concern,” according to the lawsuit. “More specifically, public employees of school districts may not be terminated for writing letters to the editor expressing their opinions about the decisions of a school district, except in very narrow circumstances. None of the narrow exceptions to public employee speech rights, as articulated in Pickering v. Bd. of Educ., 391 U.S. 563 (1968), and its progeny, apply to Plaintiff.”
Markley is seeking compensatory damages, including actual, consequential, and incidental financial losses. These shall include—but are not limited to—backpay, benefits (including, but not limited to, medical and pension benefits), and other compensation, plus prejudgment interest; damages proximately caused by the pain, anguish, embarrassment, and humiliation resulting from the unconstitutional actions taken against him; non-economic damages in an amount according to proof at trial; nominal damages; attorneys’ fees and costs associated with bringing this action; and to purge every reference to this incident—including the District’s alleged unconstitutional actions—from his personnel file and employment record; and to reinstate Markley to his former position;
Markley’s letter to the editor:
https://www.idahocountyfreepress.com/opinion/letter-the-bully-at-my-door/article_41;6a26-a1ca-11ed-bc43-db56d935441b.html
LETTER: ‘The bully at my door’
Feb 1, 2023
The bully at my door. He said I am going to sexualize your kids! I had to push back. I wasn’t looking to have a tussle; it came to my door. I said, how you
gonna do that? He said I am gonna expose your kids at your school! I say to this aggressive bully, ##!!-/“# and you are not getting away with this! Here is
what must happen. Our school (Riggins JSD 243) must strongly protect our children from sexually obscene material and influencing by adjusting school policy to abide by Idaho state law. This policy must apply to every part of our school (not just the school library, as we have recently found the school
website promoting obscene, inappropriate links). This is all we are asking!
Now that the bully has grossly overstepped his bounds, we will not stop the pushback to protect our kids until the above-stated commonsense objectives
are in place and our children are safeguarded by our school. Happily, we have renewed hope that our school board and leadership can and will help us
safeguard our kids as they – upon realizing that our school website (the counselor’s page) was promoting foul websites – acted quickly to remove the foul
promotions. We applaud this common decency move and want such applied across the board. We must now finish the task of pushing back the bully by
convincing JSD 243 that abiding by Idaho law is good and right. No loopholes, no excuses, put the bully in his place. Say, “no way, not here, not now and
not later.” Stop the bully, stop the sexualization! Now is the time! Are we asking so much?
Keith Markley
New Meadows
Simon’s letter to Markley:
Dear Keith Markley,
As requested, I am responding to your email in regards to your recent termination on Monday, February 9, 2023 at the meeting at Riggins Elementary at 8:10am. Though classified employees are regarded as at-will employees and may be dismissed at the will of either party and the employment relationship may be terminated at any time for any or no reason, I will try to address each of your items.
You are correct, I did not like your letter to the editor. You stated in the letter, “that our school website (the counselor’s page) was promoting foul websites”. This is untrue and slanderous. The Counselor’s page had a list of resources with links to other resources and websites. Those websites also have links to resources and websites. This was not/is not a promotion of those subsequent sites. The district cannot control outside websites, nor see the material you refer to, as our filters block any/all content of that nature. I appreciated you saying that the district “acted quickly to remove the foul promotions”, however it continued to imply that we were aware and promoting the content.
In addition, your letter brought down staff morale. Multiple staff members reported that your letter was upsetting. As this is the second time I have had to speak to you about speaking badly about the district, I could see that this was not a good fit. When the letter was published in the paper, I spoke to each board member and made them aware of your letter to the editor if they had not read it already. They did not know the details about how or when your termination would happen.
I thank you for the safety you provided to our student athletes during your time here as an employee.
On February 25, your final paycheck will be mailed to your address on file.
If you have not already, please return any District paperwork, files, and/or equipment by Tuesday, February 14, 2023. If you have further questions regarding your paperwork or final paycheck, you may contact our business manager [redacted].
Sincerely,
Trisha Simonson Superintendent
