Ex-official again sues over firing
FAYETTEVILLE — A superintendent who was fired after having an affair with a subordinate has taken his fight with the Fayetteville School District to federal court.
Matthew Wendt filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming breach of contract. He is asking for $929,128 in damages he says he is owed under his employment contract as well as attorney fees.
The Fayetteville School Board unanimously voted to terminate Wendt’s contract June 8, 2018, citing a
breach of contract by violating the district’s sexual harassment policy. Wendt violated the policy through derogatory and offensive conduct and communication with a female subordinate, according to Susan Kendall, an attorney with the Kendall Law Firm in Rogers and the board’s legal counsel.
The lawsuit argues the board improperly fired Wendt on the pretext of sexual harassment, as no formal complaint was lodged with the board. The lawsuit also says district officials didn’t follow their own policies and procedures for handling such complaints and that no formal investigation report was produced.
Wendt alleges he was told informally by the school district’s attorney that sexual harassment was unfounded because the relationship was consensual, but he was fired anyway. The district denied allegations of sexual harassment in an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint by the woman, later identified as Shae Newman. Newman’s complaint was later dismissed as being unfounded under federal law, according to the lawsuit.
“At all times relevant to the allegations contained herein, there was no board policy of the Fayetteville School District prohibiting fraternization. i.e., consensual relationships between co-workers, or between a supervisor and a subordinate, nor was a non-fraternization term included in plaintiff’s contract,” according to the lawsuit filed on Wendt’s behalf by his attorney, Travis Story.
The School Board also failed to abide by its obligation under board policy to keep Wendt’s name confidential after Newman’s sexual harassment complaint had been filed, according to the lawsuit.
Wendt previously filed lawsuits against the school district and Newman in Washington County Circuit Court. In March 2019, Circuit Judge John Threet threw out a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by Wendt against the school district.
Wendt filed the lawsuit in September 2018 against the Fayetteville School District, saying the board wrongfully fired him after he was accused of sexual harassment. The lawsuit contended Wendt was a victim of a rush to judgment and that his termination was “merely pretextual in an attempt by FPS [the school district] to preserve image and relations.”
Threet granted the district’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
Another lawsuit, filed by Wendt in early August 2018 against Newman, was thrown out by Threet in November 2018. Threet found the lawsuit didn’t contain valid legal claims.