Judge denies request by Ryan Walters to dismiss defamation suit filed by ex-Norman teacher

A federal judge has denied a request by state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed against him by a former Norman teacher.

The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Bernard Jones in Oklahoma City means Summer Boismier’s lawsuit against Walters can move forward, although no hearing date has yet been set.

Boismier resigned from Norman Public Schools in August 2022 after drawing attention to her protest against House Bill 1775, an Oklahoma law that prohibits schools from covering certain concepts on race and gender. In her classroom, Boismier covered shelves with red butcher paper and posted a sign written in black marker that read "books the state doesn't want you to read." She also posted a QR code to the Brooklyn Public Library, which gives students online access to banned books.

She sued Walters in federal court in August 2023. In her lawsuit, she said posts published by Walters on his public accounts on X in August 2022 — when he served as Gov. Kevin Stitt’s secretary of education — contained “false and misleading statements,” including that Boismier had been fired from Norman Public Schools, that she had distributed pornography to students and that she had “sexualized her classroom.”

Boismier said in her lawsuit she “was a teacher rather than a politician or public figure” when those letters were published.

On Jan. 16, Walters filed the motion to dismiss, saying Boismier “cannot point to any actionable false statement made by Walters, nor does she meet the standard for alleging a defamation claim as a public figure” because “she does not allege any actual malice on the part of Walters.” Walters’ attorneys also claimed Boismier had “failed to meet this standard for alleging that Walters acted with actual malice. Indeed, the term ‘malice’ does not appear once in (her) pleadings.”

In a ruling last week, Jones disagreed with that assessment.

“At this stage of the proceedings, the Court finds the record is simply insufficient to determine whether (Boismier) qualifies as a limited-purpose public figure,” Jones said in his ruling. “Of course, if the case proceeds to summary judgment or trial, more factual development may show that (Boismier) qualifies as a public figure. Presently, however, with little to no evidence of (Boismier’s) reportedly notable departure from teaching, the Court is unable to conclude that she is a public figure for purposes of her defamation claim.”

Jones also found that, when drawing “reasonable inferences” in Boismier’s favor — as he is legally required to do at this point in the case — that Boismier had sufficiently alleged both “actual malice” and that Walters had made “false and defamatory statements.”

Walters also had cited “fair comment privilege,” a principle that affords legal immunity for comment by any and all members of the public, as a reason to dismiss the case. Jones said he wasn’t ready to apply that principle “at this stage of the proceedings.” Jones said, “(M)ost notably, (Walters) fails to sufficiently discuss, much less prove, that his statements were based on true or privileged facts.”

Walters has a new attorney representing him in the case, David Gleason, of Oklahoma City, along with two out-of-state attorneys.

Walters seeking to revoke Boismier's teaching certificate, even though she's moved

In addition to the federal court case, Walters and Boismier are on opposite sides as Walters seeks to revoke Boismier’s teaching license, even though she has since moved to New York and works at the Brooklyn Public Library. Soon after he took office in January 2023, he ordered his staff at the Oklahoma State Department of Education to investigate Boismier and another teacher for “indoctrinating” students.

Boismier has fought Walters’ efforts at every turn. She asked for a revocation hearing, and at that hearing last June, an assistant attorney general ruled the department “failed to prove” Boismier had violated any state law.

Despite the ruling, Walters said he intended to finalize the license revocation in August. However, no action was taken then by the state Board of Education, which would have to approve any revocation.

In January, the board voted to hold another hearing to finalize the revocation on March 28. But during March, all of the Education Department’s in-house attorneys left the agency and apparently no successors have yet been hired, as no attorneys are listed on the agency website. At the March 28 meeting, the board voted to delay action until May. The board’s contracted attorney, Cara Nicklas, suggested the delay because of the lack of in-house attorneys at the state agency.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Judge allows teachers' defamation suit against Ryan Walters to continue