Court dismisses case involving Ingham County officials
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – A federal judge in the Western District Court of Michigan dismissed a federal lawsuit against two top Ingham County officials alleging they had “conspired” and used “undue political influence” in getting their son returned to the Mason Public Schools as a student.
The couple – a countywide elected official and a top staffer in the Ingham County Sheriff’s Department – were sued on Feb. 2, along with the Mason Public Schools and two of the staff there. The parent of a teenage girl argued the couple’s son had been improperly allowed back into the Mason Public Schools in 2023 after being expelled for allegedly sexually assaulting a classmate in 2022.
The couple’s son had been accused of putting his hand down a female student’s pants and digitally penetrating her in the middle of a classroom at Mason Middle School. A police investigation referred to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office did not result in criminal charges.
6 News is not identifying the parents in the case because doing so would identify a minor who has neither been charged nor convicted of a crime.
Federal District Court Judge Robert Jonker ruled Thursday, however, that the lawsuit’s claims of political influence did not rise to the level of gender discrimination and he dismissed the case against not just the two county employees, but also two Mason High School administrators who had been named personally in the lawsuit.
The attorney for the family that launched the lawsuit admitted to 6 News in February that he had no evidence to back up his conspiracy claim.
“Yeah, I mean, well, that’s what the discovery process is for,” Brandon Wolfe said shortly after suit was filed. “That’s why it’s in a lawsuit right now. I anticipate – we anticipate that maybe that some phone records or emails will be revealing and it’s the only explanation for this egregious favoritism for this one child.”
The judge did allow the student and her parents to continue their lawsuit against the Mason Public Schools – alleging the district violated Title IX by allowing the male student to repeatedly come in contact with the female, despite a personal protection order (PPO), to continue.
A Mason Public Schools’ Title IX investigation determined, by the preponderance of the evidence, that the alleged incident was more likely than not to have occurred and recommended the male student be expelled from Mason Public Schools.
After a year of expulsion, the male student and his parents sought to have him readmitted to Mason Public Schools as a school-of-choice student. The Mason Board of Education approved his re-admission.
The countywide elected official Friday issued the following statement about the dismissal and the lawsuit:
From the beginning, this lawsuit was frivolous, false and utterly irresponsible. The salacious allegations against my integrity in this suit were designed to embarrass my family and were a blatant attempt to shake me down because I am a public figure. There was not a shred of evidence supporting their claim, as indicated by their lawyer’s own comments in media reports, where he admitted the claims he made in this bogus lawsuit had no merit.
Early on, my family filed a motion to dismiss this case as it was completely and utterly baseless. In a ruling yesterday, I am pleased to say that this irresponsible case against my family has been dismissed by the federal judge. I have stayed silent on this matter, in an effort to allow the legal system to play out, knowing that this case was so detached from reality that it would never stand up to judicial scrutiny.
While I am happy with the result, the toll that this ordeal has taken is all too real and harmful. In addition to the financial cost of having to defend against these slanderous accusations, the emotional impact that this has had on my children and our extended family, has been incalculable.
I am used to political attacks, I have had my life scrutinized and combed over for years and I remember the time when a person’s children were off limits. To attempt to embarrass and extract money from my family through attacking my children is unconscionable and should be out of bounds.
At this time, I am considering my options regarding holding those that brought such claims responsible for the defamation of my character. The false statements made by an unscrupulous attorney should also be examined, and he should face sanctions for his part in this claim.
I also wish to thank my friends and members of the community who reached out with messages of support and love as we went through this process. They knew, like I did, that these claims were nonsense and that justice would eventually win out.Email statement from parent
Until Friday, the family has not commented on the allegations in the lawsuit, nor about the criminal investigation or the Title IX findings.
The lawsuit resulted in a February walkout by students at Mason High School.
Alyson Kechkaylo, communications specialist at the Ingham Intermediate School District/Eaton RESA and spokeswoman for the Mason Public Schools, tells 6 News the district has no comment on this development.
Brandon Wolfe, the attorney representing the girl and her family, provided 6 News with this following statement.
“Given the incredibly high bar to bring cases against the government, and particularly government officials, it is an absolute win,” Wolfe wrote in an email to 6 News. “The judge refused to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims so those claims must be filed with Ingham county circuit court shortly. In other words, this is not the last chapter of the story for the [family name removed to protect the identity of the accused minor].”
UPDATE: This story has been updated to include a comment from the attorney representing the family suing the Mason Public Schools and to include a statement from the Mason Public Schools that they had no comment.
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