A federal lawsuit against the former superintendent of the Lowndes County School District filed by the current superintendent has been dismissed.
The suit, filed in federal court in Aberdeen, was dismissed in July, according to court documents.
Superintendent Lynn Wright sued former superintendent Mike Halford and the county school district after he alleged he was wrongfully terminated in 2010 as principal of New Hope High School. Former baseball coach Stacey Hester, who served as New Hope’s head baseball coach for 18 years, also sued Halford and the district, alleging he too was wrongfully terminated.
Wright and Hester were both represented by Tupelo attorney Jim Waide.
In 2009, Halford discovered Hester had purchased the mower without board approval in 2007. In addition to his duties with the school, Hester also operated a landscaping business.
Wright was serving as principal of the high school when the alleged infraction occurred. Halford claimed the purchase of the mower was illegal and recommended the school board terminate Hester and Wright. Hester was fired in 2009. Wright was fired in 2010.
In October 2011, the two filed both federal and state wrongful termination suits against the district and alleged they were fired not because of the purchase of the mower but because of personality conflicts between Halford and former LCSD board president Dr. Robert Buckley. Two months later, Wright was elected as superintendent. Halford did not seek re-election.
In May 2012, Lowndes County Chancery Court Judge Dorothy Colom ruled in favor of Wright and awarded him $175,000 in back pay. The school board voted to appeal the ruling. The local court ruled against Hester. He appealed that ruling. The case then appeared before the Mississippi Court of Appeals. The court reversed Colom’s ruling on Wright. It upheld her decision on Hester.
Hester and Wright appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court. The high court declined to hear the case.
In light of the Supreme Court’s decision, Waide asked the federal court to dismiss the suits. Hester’s was dismissed on July 24. Wright’s was dismissed on July 30.
Waide said if the case had gone before a jury, he feels his clients would have prevailed.
“I saw no way to get a jury trial and the only way we could ever win this case was with a jury trial,” Waide said on Tuesday. “Any jury would have ruled for both of them. I feel certain of it.”
Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.
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