NEW ORLEANS – A former Louisiana teacher claims a local school board and sheriff’s office “conspired” to force her resignation amid an investigation into charges of cruelty to a juvenile student.
Catherine Dunn Mumphrey filed her complaint June 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana June 3.
The named defendants include the St. Tammany Parish School Board, Steve Alfonso, George Bode, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randall “Randy” Smith, and an unidentified female sheriff’s deputy employed in the intake section of the parish jail.
According to the complaint, Alfonso is a human resources administrator with the St. Tammany Parish Public School System and Bode is an employee of the school board and the school system’s human resources department.
“Defendants, acting under color of state law, compromised Plaintiff’s good name and professional reputation and violated her right to privacy through conspiracy, trickery and deceit,” the complaint states.
The 16-page complaint stems from an incident on or about May 22, 2024. Mumphrey, a former special needs pre-K and kindergarten teacher at E.E. Lyon Elementary in St. Tammany Parish, had a special needs child who refused to move from a classroom bathroom.
Mumphrey – who holds a master’s degree in education, specifically early intervention – claims she took the child by her hand and wrist, guiding her towards the desired location. In doing so, the child dropped to the floor “in passive resistance,” she alleges.
She contends she acted as she did to maintain an “orderly education process,” as provided by state law.
The incident came to the attention of E.E. Lyon Principal Lauryn Faciane, who instructed Mumphrey not to return to the campus as an investigation had been initiated, according to the complaint. The elementary school is equipped with an electronic surveillance system in its special needs classrooms.
Mumphrey alleges she was contacted by phone by the sheriff’s office a few days later, and was requested to present herself for an interview about the incident.
Concerned that the sheriff’s office had become involved, Mumphrey said she consulted attorney Mark Vicknair, who contacted the sheriff’s office and was told she was the subject of a felony arrest warrant.
Vicknair, who assured the sheriff’s office that a formal arrest was not necessary, agreed to accompany the plaintiff to the parish jail to self-surrender on June 4, 2024. As agreed, Mumphrey presented herself.
She was booked on felony charges and processed through intake. According to the complaint, Mumphrey was instructed to remove her clothing and put on a prison jumpsuit. She was then taken to a jail cell.
Soon after, Mumphrey alleges the unnamed sheriff’s officer took her from the cell and explained that someone from the school system’s human resources department needed to speak with her.
Bode introduced himself to Mumphrey, and presented her with a document expressing her desire to resign as a teacher. Bode allegedly instructed her to sign the document, saying it would be “in her best interest” instead of being terminated. If terminated, the pending charges and circumstances of her arrest would be disclosed to future employers.
“Plaintiff requested an opportunity to give the resignation document due consideration and cool reflection in less stressful and oppressive conditions, as well as a chance to discuss it with her husband, but Defendant Bode responded that Plaintiff had to sign the document before she was booked, which was imminent,” the complaint states.
Mumphrey says she was told the document did not concern the criminal matter and consulting her lawyer was not necessary.
“Defendant Bode assured Plaintiff that by resigning she would preserve the possibility of being rehired in the future, whereas termination would preclude any such possibility,” the complaint states.
The teacher says she signed the document and Bode countersigned. She noted in her complaint that at the bottom of the document was a space inscribed, “Do Not Rehire.” Mumphrey contends this space was unmarked when she signed; however, the present document shows the same space circled.
Mumphrey alleges the sequence of events was planned.
“Upon information and belief, Plaintiff avers that a person or persons within the Sheriff’s Office under the supervision of Defendant Sheriff Randy Smith coordinated and conspired with a person or persons within the Office of Human Resources under the supervision of Defendant Steve Alfonso in order to notify Defendant George Bode that Plaintiff would be in custody at the Parish Jail on a specific date and time,” the complaint states.
Mumphrey contends she was under treatment for postpartum anxiety at the time of the May 2024 incident, following the premature birth of her youngest child. Her “disability,” she alleges, was known by the school system. She believes it was a contributing factor in her forced resignation.
“The events described herein significantly exacerbated Plaintiff’s condition, caused a regression of her treatment, and elongated her course of recovery,” the complaint states.
She also argues in her complaint that she never received required, specialized training in classroom management for teachers of special needs students.
According to her filing, the Louisiana Department of Education requires Non-violent Crisis Intervention, or NCI, training. It provides teachers with “the skill set necessary to deal with the unique challenges of special needs classroom management and how to de-escalate confrontation with recalcitrant special needs students.”
Mumphrey argues the defendants used police power to secure the forfeiture of her right to due process; compromised her “good name” and reputation; deprived her of her right to counsel; illegally obtained a statement from her; failed to provide her with reasonable accommodation, specifically in the form of counseling and additional training; and failed to accommodate her disability and exploited that disability.
“By choosing to approach Plaintiff while she was in custody and knowing of her fragile emotional disability, Defendants St. Tammany School Board and George Bode intentionally and maliciously inflicted emotional distress upon Plaintiff through intimidation, duress and deception,” the complaint states.
Mumphrey, in her complaint, also takes issue with Superintendent Frank Jabbia and statements made to the media on June 6, 2024. She contends he put her in a false light, caused damage to her standing in the community, and “held her up to public shame, disgrace, disrepute and opprobrium.”
“As a consequence of Jabbia’s remarks and the public response thereto, Plaintiff’s already impaired psychological state was aggravated and exacerbated, reversing previous therapeutic improvement and causing her treatment to be more complicated and protracted,” the complaint states.
“Jabbia’s widely distributed disparaging public remarks prejudiced Plaintiff’s right to an unbiased jury pool in any subsequent criminal proceedings.”
Mumphrey is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, including the expense of ongoing therapy, attorneys’ fees, costs, expenses, and a jury trial.
She is represented by New Orleans firm Couhig Partners LLC.
