Taxpayers will cover $132,000 in lawsuit settlements owed to two fired Oklahoma State Department of Education employees who sued former state Superintendent Ryan Walters and his senior adviser.
Cheryl McGee and Matt Colwell each sued Walters and Matt Langston in Oklahoma City federal court in 2023. Both had been fired that year for sharing agency information with individuals outside of the Education Department.
They contended Walters and Langston violated their First Amendment rights by putting an overly broad restraint on their speech. Because Walters and Langston were acting within the scope of their authority as agency officials, the state of Oklahoma is responsible for paying both plaintiffs' settlements, under state indemnification laws.
Education Department spokesperson Tara Thompson confirmed the money owed will come out of the agency's funds.
"We are hopeful this settlement brings OSDE one step closer to a resolution of outstanding legal issues so that our attention and resources can be focused on serving the students of Oklahoma," Thompson said.
Walters and Langston deny any legal violations, according to the settlement agreements, which Oklahoma Voice obtained from the Education Department.
The defendants signed the agreements on June 26 "solely for the purpose of avoiding further expenses of litigation," and the settlements in no way represent an admission of liability, the documents state.
Their attorney, W. Caleb Jones, declined to comment on the case.
Walters and Langston didn't return requests for further comment. Both left the Education Department in September when Walters accepted a position leading an anti-teacher-union organization.
McGee, the agency's former executive director of school based mental health, was awarded $100,000. She will keep half of the funds — a $30,000 payment and another $20,000 for wage loss, according to her agreement. The second half will go to the law firm representing her, Hammons, Hurst & Associates.
Colwell settled for $32,000. Half will go to his attorneys and the other half for himself and for wage loss.
Attorney Mark Hammons, who represents both McGee and Colwell, said the settlements are a "source of vindication" for his clients.
"I think our government has to perform better than it did in this case," Hammons said. "These are individuals who were willing to stand up and do the right thing. Of course, like a lot of people who stand up and do the right thing, they get punished for it."
McGee was fired May 25, 2023, for sharing an email from Langston with the news media, according to her lawsuit. In the agency-wide email, Langston threatened employees with termination if they were found to have leaked information to the press. He later said he had formatted the emails with subtle differences so he could identify which employees had leaked.
Colwell was fired the next day after sharing concerns about a teacher signing bonus program with the Attorney General's Office and with a state representative, according to his lawsuit. He sent a memorandum explaining the teacher pay plan could contravene federal and state requirements and could result in millions in extra costs.
Walters established signing bonuses of up to $50,000 to lure qualified classroom teachers from out of state or back into the profession from other career fields.
The program attracted more than 500 teachers to Oklahoma school districts, but it caused controversy when the Education Department realized it had paid a few teachers in error and threatened to claw back the money.
Two of the affected teachers, Kharis "Kay" Bojorquez and Kristina Stadelman, sued the agency and Walters in Oklahoma County District Court. All parties agreed in October to voluntarily dismiss the case, court records show.
Hammons, who also represents the two teachers, said the state gave up on its attempt to claw back their signing bonuses.
The cases are a few of many filed against Walters and the Education Department during his tenure in office. Plaintiffs sued the former state superintendent over open meeting and open records concerns, religious freedoms, alleged defamation, revocation of a teacher's certification and other disputes.
"The state was littered with complaints about his conduct. Things were undone as soon as he left," Hammons said. "I would be embarrassed if I had been in that position and my legacy was having gotten sued all the time successfully and having gotten sued because I was being vindictive to people over political purposes."
Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence.
