2 New Lawsuits Filed Against Ryan Walters

Ryan Walters, the Oklahoma State Superintendent, has been named in many lawsuits, mostly from former employees.

Tuesday, September 5th 2023, 10:20 pm

By: News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -

Multiple lawsuits have been filed against Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters and the State Department of Education, including two that were filed recently.

Boismier

The first lawsuit was filed by a former Norman Public Schools English teacher who posted a QR code with access to the Brooklyn library's "Books Unbanned" page.

Summer Boismier filed a libel suit, saying Walters targeted her on his social media platforms.

Bointy

This lawsuit was filed by a former Department of Education employee.

Janessa Bointy says she was wrongfully terminated after speaking out at an Edmond School Board meeting.

Bointy spoke about a student who took their life after being bullied.

The department says she was in breach of contract for talking at the meeting.

Mecklenburg

A lawsuit involving alleged hazing and abuse from a coach at Kingfisher Public Schools names Ryan Walters.

The State Supreme Court case files outline almost two decades of alleged abuse, saying that coaches and administration at Kingfisher knew about many of the instances and did nothing about them.

ACLU

In July, a lawsuit was filed by the ACLU for the state’s funding of the Virtual Charter School Board.

The nine plaintiffs being represented by the ACLU are asking the Oklahoma County District Court to block St. Isidore of Seville from operating as a charter school. They also want to keep the state from entering into any contracts or funding the school.

Clowell and McGee

Two former OSDE employees have filed a lawsuit for wrongful and retaliatory termination.

These lawsuits both stem from an email sent to OSDE employees from Matt Langston and Ryan Walters, threatening termination if they talk to members of the media. Langston later admitted that was a trap for whistleblowers in the department.