Former teacher sues Jefferson City School District; JCSD says there are ‘misrepresentations’ in lawsuit
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
A former technical English teacher at the Nichols Career Center is suing the Jefferson City School District, claiming age discrimination and retaliatory actions by supervisors.
Kristin Imhoff filed the suit on Aug. 4, claiming two counts of retaliation against an employee resulted in damages.
A court date has not yet been set. Court records indicate the school district was served Thursday, Sept. 14. The lawsuit filed by Imhoff demands a jury trial.
According to court documents, Imhoff claims the school district retaliated against her after she made a report of violations at the Nichols Career Center.
Court documents state Imhoff worked for JCSD for 11 years and was praised as a “rockstar teacher.” The documents also state she had 20 years of experience teaching before working at JCSD.
The lawsuit claims Imhoff’s supervisor, Nichols Career Center Director Cody Bashore discriminated against her based on her sex and age, which would be in violation of the Missouri Human Rights Act, and claimed there was a routine bias against older female staff.
The lawsuit claims she was retaliated against a week later – Aug. 26, 2022 -- by her supervisors. Imhoff claims a meeting was held, but she was not given any specific examples or explanations of “alleged unsatisfactory conduct.”
Imhoff then reported a member of JCSD’s leadership committee in February 2023 for “mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, and waste of public resources,” in relation to the Proposition KIDS bond measure.
On Feb. 7, 2023, the lawsuit claims Imhoff was retaliated against by being “demoted” to teaching a middle school class the following Monday, in the middle of the semester. Instead of accepting the demotion, Imhoff used her remaining paid leave to take the rest of the school year off and retired in July, court documents state.
A Jefferson City School District spokesperson told ABC 17 News in an email on Thursday that there were multiple misrepresentations in the lawsuit.
"The Jefferson City School District intends to vigorously defend this case and appreciates that the legal process will provide an opportunity to address the multiple misrepresentations made in the lawsuit," the spokesperson said in the statement.
