Three former Ooltewah High School officials have filed suit in Federal Court, claiming they were unfairly maligned and prosecuted in connection with a basketball team rape case that happened in Sevier County.
Filing the complaint were former principal Jim Jarvis and his wife, Amelia; former coach Andre "Tank" Montgomery and his wife, Bonita, and former athletic director Jesse Nayadley and his wife, Janet. Criminal charges were brought against Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Nayadley, but not Mr. Jarvis.
The case is filed against the county schools, the county, the state Department of Children's Services, the district attorney's office, District Attorney Neal Pinkston and former county school superintendent Rick Smith.
They are suing for breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, wrongful discharge, breach of contract, fraud/deceit, defamation, civil rights violations, age discrimination and loss of consortium.
The 33-page complaint, filed by attorney Curtis Bowe, says Mr. Jarvis was a former administrator of the year. It says Mr. Montgomery was the head basketball coach, who donated to his players "time, money and transportation to see them through the tribulations of life." It says Mr. Nayadley had satisfied all the requirements for his teaching certificate and licensure.
It says none of the three had any marks on their record for the 2015-2016 school year.
The complaint says Mr. Montgomery was washing dishes at a cabin in Gatlinburg on Dec. 22, 2015, when three players assaulted a freshman player, who had serious injuries.
It says the coach took the injured player to the hospital, "where law enforcement authorities were properly and timely notified of the assault and began an investigation." It says he separated the alleged perpetrators and interviewed players.
The suit says, "What followed was not only disturbing, but unfathomable."
It says the schools held a series of press conferences at which Supt. Smith "misrepresented information, policy, procedures, protocol, and fiduciary duties" in respect to the plaintiffs.
The suit says, "This caused a media frenzy and a circus of misreported facts, irresponsible reporting, misrepresentations, speculation, conjecture and vilification" of the plaintiffs.
It says DA Pinkston brought charges in Juvenile Court against Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Nayadley "though they had committed no wrongdoing."
The complaint says a series of "unnecessary, illegal and inappropriate" hearings were held on the charges.
It says Mr. Smith "continued to make misrepresentations as to the sequence of events, even going so far as to claim he had no knowledge" of the incident. It says his intent "was to distract from his poor management ability" and his failure to properly notify school board members.
The suit says the Department of Children's Services also brought charges against Mr. Montgomery that are still pending. It says, as a result, he is unable to work in any school or college.
It says DA Pinkston continued with a "media campaign" against the plaintiffs and it says Supt. Smith suspended Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Nayadley without due process.
The suit says Judge Don Poole dismissed the failure to report charge against Mr. Montgomery.
It says Mr. Jarvis suffered emotional distress from "false claims" that there was a culture of bullying at Ooltewah High and Mr. Montgomery suffered distress from charges that his team had a culture of bullying. It says Mr. Nayadley suffered distress over charges that he presided over an athletic program that had a culture of violence.
The complaint says Mr. Jarvis was unfairly demoted due to false charges, while it says school administrators where there had been serious incidents, including teachers having sex with students, were allowed to stay.
The suit says each should be awarded $25,000 for emotional harm, pain and suffering.
Mr. Jarvis, Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Nayadley seek $1,550,000 each in compensatory damages and $1 million each in punitive damages.
The wives seek $100,000 each for loss of consortium.