Two women who sued a Missouri school district over required equity training were ordered to pay the district's six-figure legal fees, a move their lawyers said is "clearly intended to punish."
U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Harpool ordered Jennifer Lumley and Brooke Henderson on March 31 to pay Springfield Public Schools $312,869 in legal fees, writing that the district spent significant time and tax dollars on defense that "would have been better spent ensuring educational opportunities for students."
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Now, the plaintiffs have appealed Harpool's decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, according to a notice filed on Friday.
The women are "vigorously appealing the judge’s $313k attorney fee order which is clearly intended to punish them and shut the courthouse doors to anyone, teachers and parents alike, who seeks to challenge and stop their school district from fighting back to save America’s schools," Kimberly Hermann, general counsel at Southeastern Legal Foundation, told the Washington Examiner.
Lumley and Henderson, who still work for the district, claimed the racial equity training they were required to partake in the 2020-21 school year violated their First Amendment rights and would require them to become "anti-racist educators," according to their lawsuit.
The pair contend their First Amendment rights were violated when the training program "compelled their...
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