STARKVILLE — A former Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District bus driver is alleging she suffered sexual harassment from a supervisor and was later singled out for termination, according to court documents.
Erica Griffin filed a federal lawsuit in the United States District Court for Northern Mississippi on Friday. She claims former Transportation Director Kelvin Gibson sexually harassed her for years and fired her after she refused to drive an extra bus route even though another employee — another female employee who wasn’t fired — had also refused.
Griffin claims she was fired “… in retaliation against her for rebuffing his many sexually harassing advances.”
The complaint, which is only one side of a legal argument, states that Griffin began working for SOCSD in October 2016.
“Beginning soon after (Griffin) began her employment at SOCSD, (Gibson) began sexually harassing” her, according to the lawsuit, which was filed by Flowood attorneys Louis Watson and Nick Norris.
The complaint alleges Gibson would take pictures of Griffin without her permission. He also allegedly “sent (Griffin) flirtatious messages by text or called her cell phone and made flirtatious statements to her over the phone.”
Griffin claims that in May 2018 she asked for a day off, and Gibson said she couldn’t have one “…unless she went on a date with him.”
Among other allegations, the lawsuit claims that Gibson questioned Griffin “… about her clothing and he asked why she had been ‘covering up.’”
In January 2022 the lawsuit alleges Gibson, in front of another employee, asked about Griffin’s buttocks, “… and he insinuated that she may have gotten a cosmetic procedure to enhance that part of her body. For example, he stated to (Griffin) and (Supervisor Kirby Sherman), “Guess what? Fake asses have made it to Starkville…,” the complaint reads.
In February 2022, the lawsuit alleges Gibson told Griffin “… he had given her the nickname ‘Traffic Jam,’ so named, according to him, because ‘you have an ass that can stop traffic.’”
On Feb. 24, 2022, the complaint alleges, Gibson approached bus driver Melissa Haughton after she had completed her route and asked her to drive an additional route. She refused, and Gibson asked Griffin to do it instead.
Griffin also refused, and “… in response, (Gibson) informed (Griffin) she was terminated, allegedly due to ‘insubordination.’ Although two different bus drivers (Griffin and Haughton) were pressured to drive an additional route, only (Griffin) was terminated.”
Griffin is asking for back wages and reinstatement; future wages in lieu of reinstatement; compensatory damages; punitive damages; attorney’s fees; lost benefits; pre- and post-judgment interest and court costs.
SOCSD Board Attorney John Hill declined to comment on the suit because he said he was unaware of the suit and had not seen it yet.
According to SOCSD Public Information Officer Haley Montgomery, Gibson is no longer employed with the district. His last day was Dec. 21.
Teacher’s assistant sues
In an unrelated lawsuit, filed April 3 in the U.S. District Court for Northern Mississippi, a teacher’s assistant is alleging she was passed over for a lead teacher’s position due to her race.
Kelsea Eleese Smith is represented by Jim Waide of Tupelo.
According to the lawsuit, Smith is a Black female with a master’s degree. She is certified to teach kindergarten and pre-kindergarten. She worked for two years at Vibrant Kids Academy before taking a job at Sudduth Elementary as a teacher’s aide.
When the teacher Smith worked under gave notice she would not be returning for the next school year, Smith applied for the job and was interviewed by Principal Morgan Abraham, the complaint reads.
“Almost immediately after the interviews, at least two white applicants, with no experience, were hired for kindergarten positions,” according to the complaint.
Smith was told the district needed to observe her teaching, the complaint alleges, and “… two persons had been immediately hired because (the district) was well satisfied with their interview performances. The principal indicated that she was not completely satisfied with (Smith’s) interview.”
According to the lawsuit, only two of approximately 16 kindergarten teachers at Sudduth are Black.
“All vacant kindergarten positions were filled by white persons, some of whom did not have their teaching licenses,” the lawsuit states. “(Smith) was substantially more qualified than the white persons who obtained the positions.”
The claim the district needed to observe Smith teaching “… was a singling out of (Smith) for disparate treatment because (the district) knew that (Smith’s) qualifications and her experience as an assistant teacher qualified her for the position.”
Smith is requesting actual damages, and injunction hiring her as a kindergarten or pre-kindergarten teacher and for “reasonable” attorneys’ fees, court costs and expenses.
Hill declined to comment on the suit.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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