ELKINS – A Randolph County woman says she was mentally and physically abused by her Pre-K teacher.
Felicity Shipman filed her complaint in Randolph Circuit Court against Kimberly Smith and the Randolph County Board of Education.
Shipman was a student at Beverly Elementary School in the Pre-K program, and Smith was her teacher. More than a dozen similar lawsuits have been filed against the board and Smith.
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Shipman claims Smith engaged in multiple malicious acts of physical and mental abuse toward her Pre-K students “which exceeded the bounds of decency and appropriate discipline.”
According to the complaint, Smith maliciously and recklessly threatened, bullied and intimidated the Pre-K students and caused significant anxiety and fear of excessive punishment of themselves or their classmates. Smith repeatedly put Shipman and other Pre-K students in a closet connected to the classroom and forced them to remain there against their will, the complaint states.
In previous school board meetings, parents said the closet was named “Frankenstein’s Closet.” The incidents allegedly happened in 2010, so Shipman now is an adult.
The complaint says Smith’s actions were violations of the West Virginia Department of Education Employee Code of Conduct. It also says the school board and its employees had a duty and obligation to protect the safety and well-being of its students, including Shipman.
Shipman says she has suffered emotional and physical trauma, mental suffering, an inability to enjoy life, annoyance, inconvenience, medical expenses and other damages and will continue to do so.
She accuses the defendants of malicious, wanton and reckless acts as well as false imprisonment and negligence. She seeks compensatory damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
Shipman is being represented by Jamie Fox of Fox Law Office in Hurricane. Fox also represented more than a dozen other of Smith’s students in lawsuits dating back to 2019. Many of those lawsuits were settled in 2021, but terms of the settlements were not disclosed.
The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Jaymie Wilfong.
Randolph Circuit Court case number 25-C-36
