Weakley County Board of Education Denies Allegations in Greenfield Graduation Lawsuit: Jury Trial Date Set for Oct. 27
Last year, a lawsuit filed by a Greenfield student shocked Weakley Countians by alleging that Greenfield School’s actions during the May 2024 graduation ceremony, and the school year, included segregation, isolation, humiliation, prejudice and denial of school activities, however, the board of education’s response to the lawsuit denies all of those accusations, shedding new light on the entire situation.
The initial lawsuit, filed by Salonus Firm, PLC in Jackson which represents a now former Greenfield student, Kennedy Shea Lee, stated that the case against the school involved “extreme prejudice and insecurity towards persons with disabilities.”
The lawsuit stems from Lee, alongside two other students with disabilities not included in the suit, who were pictured sitting on the sidelines at their graduation ceremony with alleged claims that the school forced this arrangement upon them due to “safety reasons.”
Lee’s mother Carla took to posting on Facebook shortly after stating that Lee suffered from a condition known as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), along with a functional neurological disorder which affects Lee’s heart, blood pressure, and temperature regulation, a disability as defined by the ADA. The former stories written regarding these incidents can be found on dresdenenterprise.com. The Dresden Enterprise was the first to break the story.
The stories received immediate outrage regarding the incident, with hundreds of people since contacting The Enterprise with concerns and hundreds of comments on our social media pages.
The lawsuit even gained the attention of People Magazine, The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, MSN, the Times Leader, The Herald Ledger, and The Marshall County Tribune Courier in Kentucky and local news outlets WBBJ and WPSD, however no other local media outlets reported the incident. Those stories can be found in the Related Links Section at the bottom of this page.
The Weakley County Board of Education (WCBE), represented by Attorneys Sara D. Naylor and Spencer L. Jackson of Spencer Fane LLP in Nashville, responded to the lawsuit and a jury trial date has been set for October 27 at 9:30 a.m. in Judge J. Daniel Breen’s Courtroom 2, 4th floor of the Federal Building in Jackson, TN with all discovery in the case to be completed by May 12. Federal jury trials are open to the public; however, recordings or broadcasts may not be allowed. Contact the court at (731) 427-2556 for more information.
The response from WCBE denies prejudice towards persons with disabilities, denies segregation claims, and denies putting students in a former storage closet and giving them separate seating at graduation.
“WCBE offered numerous accommodations and options to Kennedy and her guardian to support her participation in the graduation ceremonies, including sitting with the other students and an aide, but Kennedy refused that option,” the board’s response states.
WCBE admits in their response that Doster “wanted to use graduation as a means to assess several different options available to Kennedy to participate during graduation.”
WCBE admits that Kennedy sat in the bleachers during graduation, but denies that this was the only option offered to her as a means of participation.
WCBE also admitted to sharing social media posts which showed students at graduation but denied “purposefully excluding Kennedy or any other student.”
The board’s response states that Kennedy received accommodations, elected to go on homebound status and sat in the bleachers during graduation and denies that Kennedy should be entitled to any relief requested in her suit, requesting that the suit be dropped in whole or in part.
WCBE further asserts that Lee be stopped from asserting the claims in the suit “because she and her mother and legal guardian, Carla Lee, were active participants in the development and execution of Kennedy’s 504 Plan, including the decision for Kennedy to sit in the bleachers at graduation” and that “any and all injuries Plaintiff alleges to have sustained were caused in whole or in part by her own conduct because Plaintiff chose to stay in the nurse’s room despite efforts by the school principal or other staff to make Plaintiff return to class.”
WCBE stated that their investigation of the matter was not yet complete and that they “specifically reserve the right to amend this Answer and plead additional facts and/or defenses, including affirmative defenses, and compulsory and/or permissive counterclaims, that may be supported by said investigation and discovery.”
WCBE is also seeking attorney’s fees and costs from Lee.
Of the current motions filed with the court, these upcoming dates were set:
Motions to Dismiss: February 12, 2025
Completing All Discovery: May 12, 2025
Written Discovery: April 9, 2025
Depositions: May 12, 2025
Disclosure of Plaintiff's (Burden of Proof): February 27, 2025
Disclosure of Defendant’s (Burden of Proof): March 31, 2025
Disclosure of plaintiff's Rebuttal: April 14, 2025
Expert Witness Depositions: May 12, 2025
Motions to Exclude Experts: May 27, 2025
Supplementation: May 12, 2025
Filing Dispositive Motions: June 11, 2025
Pretrial Conference: Wednesday, October 22, 2025, at 10:30 A.M.
Jury Selection: October 24, 2025, at 9:30 A.M
Jury Trial Set Date: October 27, 2025, at 9:30 A.M.
The parties estimate the length of trial will be approximately 2-3 days. Both the lawsuit and the response pdf’s will be uploaded to our website for public perusal. Please be sure to follow The Dresden Enterprise and The Martin Post for the latest breaking news as we follow this case.
Keywords
Greenfield School The Hive, Weakley County, Weakley County Board of Education, Weakley County Tennessee, Tennessee, Greenfield Tennessee, Director of Weakley County Schools Jeff Cupples, Greenfield Principal Jamies Doster, Kennedy Lee, Carla Lee, Greenfield Weakley County School Board Member Jeff Floyd, Martin Weakley County School Board Member Wendell Cates, Palmersville Weakley County School Board Member Gath Meeks, Chairman and Dresden Weakley County School Board Member Joshua Moore, Martin Weakley County School Board Member John Hatler, Gleason Weakley County School Board Member Beau Atkins, Martin Weakley County School Board Member Doug Sims, Sharon Weakley County School Board Member Martin Hamlin, Martin Weakley County School Board Member Steve Vantrease, Weakley County School Board Secretary Patricia Adams
