A Texas-based federal judge Tuesday allowed a fired librarian’s lawsuit against her commissioners to advance, saying the law sometimes lets people sue for discrimination if they’re merely advocating for LGBTQ people or racial minorities.
Now a Gillette, Wyoming, librarian who was fired last July after refusing to remove books the local library board majority deemed inappropriate, said she hopes to use the Texas case to advance her own defamation lawsuit against her loudest critics.
It’s unclear if the tactic will work, since the Texas ruling is rooted in cases that apply to employers, not critics in the community.
Terri Lesley, former Campbell County Public Library system director, sued Hugh and Susan Bennett and their son Kevin Bennett last September. She originally claimed members of the family defamed her by saying she pushed “pornographic” books through the library. She also claimed the Bennetts plotted against her for advocating for LGBTQ groups with her book selections.
For example, Lesley is in a heterosexual marriage, but many of the books the Bennetts deemed pornographic — and which Lesley defended — also contain LGBTQ messaging.
Lesley re-filed her lawsuit with some changes in March after the Bennetts noted that she’s outrun the statute of limitations for a defamation claim.
She’s now waging an “injurious falsehood” claim instead, among other civil allegations, like an abuse of process claim pertaining to the Bennetts’ attempt to have her criminally charged for promoting obscenity.
Meanwhile, In Texas
Lesley’s attorney Iris Halpern submitted a Thursday filing to the U.S. District Court for Wyoming, asking the court to take notice of the case out of Texas.
It’s a similar case, with many of its events unfolding over the year 2021 just as Lesley’s saga did.
Barbara Suzette Baker was head librarian of the Kingsland Library in Llano County, Texas, starting in March 2020. In 2021, community members started to examine the library’s book collection in search of titles they deemed inappropriate.
Baker alleged in her March lawsuit that the group was focusing on books that advocated for LGBTQ rights or racial justice, or that showed cartoon nudity or focused overtly on bodily functions like farting.
A Llano County commissioner and a state representative got involved that autumn, pushing the library to remove inappropriate books, “pornographic filth,” and books promoting critical race theory, says an order in the case.
Baker refused.
She alleged the detractors’ concerns stemmed from their own “disagreement with the views and content of the books,” which would not give license to remove books under the First Amendment.
She was fired for insubordination in 2022.
You Can Go Ahead
U.S. Western District of Texas Judge Robert Pittman allowed Baker’s case to advance in a Tuesday order denying most of the defendants’ motion to dismiss.
Most notably for Lesley’s case, the court preserved Baker’s claim that her supervisors fired her for advocating for LGBTQ groups and racial minorities, rather than for being one herself.
Judge Pittman did not pronounce an all-out merits win for Baker. He let the claim advance because the officials had forgotten or failed to raise an argument against it.
“In their reply, defendants still make no mention of association or advocacy claims,” wrote Pittman. “(The) issue (is) waived where argument (is) not contested.”
The judge then pointed to workplace discrimination cases in which employers were found liable for discrimination by firing advocates of certain groups.
Halpern represents both Baker and Lesley. In calling attention to Baker’s important, but not final, court victory, Halpern compared the two women’s plights.
“Likewise, Ms. Lesley’s claims … (of) association and advocacy theories should survive defendants’ motion to dismiss despite her ‘not even being a member of the class she purports was targeted,’” wrote Halpern in her Thursday motion.
But Here’s The Difference
Though their plights are similar, a key difference between Lesley’s and Baker’s lawsuits is that Baker is suing her governmental supervisors for discrimination, while Lesley is suing a family of private residents who waged a speech and protest campaign against her book selections.
Jeremy D. Bailie, the Bennetts’ attorney, made a note of this in his April motion to dismiss Lesley’s case.
“Lesley was terminated by the government officials that controlled her job — not defendants — for her failure to perform in the role as her supervisors wished her to perform,” wrote Bailie, who then accused Lesley of retaliating against the Bennetts for exercising their First Amendment rights in criticizing her book selections, and characterized her complaint as directed against the wrong people.
The difference may be key, as the cases Judge Pittman cited in allowing Baker’s advocacy claim to advance were rooted in laws that govern employers, not fellow community members.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
