GALVESTON – Alleging the Sweeny Independent School District wrongfully terminated her last year, Brazoria County resident Lisa Smith has pursued legal action against her former employer.
A lawsuit filed Apr. 18 in the Galveston Division of the Southern District of Texas claim that Smith lost her job as Special Programs Coordinator with the defendant because she raised issue with sexual harassment by former superintendent Randy Miksch.
Smith worked for SISD for about 15 years.
Smith and Miksch, who oversaw the former as an Assistant Superintendent, reportedly had an extra-marital sexual relationship from 2003 to 2011. When it ended, the suit explains, Miksch continued to relentlessly pursue Smith.
The plaintiff subsequently complained about Smith’s purported actions, to which others notified the respondent’s school board.
Court papers additionally allege that SISD discriminated against Smith for taking medical leave in early 2016 after she contracted multiple sclerosis, faulting Amy Pope, the district’s Executive Director of Curriculum, Compliance & Special Programs, and Human Resources Director Gerald Nixon for not offering her reasonable accommodation to allow her employment to continue.
Per the original petition, the plaintiff could not pinpoint the exact date of her termination because SISD did not inform her of said date. She learned that she was no longer a SISD employee at a medical appointment in August 2016 when the provider contacted her to say she was no longer covered under the respondent’s plan.
“To date, Smith has not received anything in writing from SISD indicating her exact termination date or the reason for her termination,” court documents state.
Consequently, the complainant seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
She is represented by attorney Karla Evans Epperson of Karla Evans Epperson Law PLLC in Houston.
Galveston Division of the Southern District of Texas Case No. 3:17-CV-1023