Former RPS chief talent officer sues School Board members, Kamras over meeting where 18 employees called for her dismissal

Maggie Clemmons, who served as the chief talent officer for Richmond Public Schools, has filed a lawsuit against the School Board, its individual members and Superintendent Jason Kamras over a School Board meeting where employees called for her dismissal during the public comment period.

The federal lawsuit alleges that the board and Kamras permitted those employees to defame her at the meeting, and asks for more than $6.35 million in damages.

An RPS spokesperson said the system does not comment on personnel matters or pending litigation.

At issue is the school board meeting on Feb. 4, where 18 employees spoke or presented letters about Clemmons, accusing her of creating a hostile work environment, discriminating against employees of color, violating division policy and law and being unqualified for her job. She was put on administrative leave less than a week later, and said in the lawsuit she was later asked to resign.

The Richmond Education Association, the largest union representing RPS employees, assembled the complaints and presented them to the board. An REA board member told VPM a month later that morale was “much improved” since Clemmons’ departure.

The lawsuit alleges that it was “settled policy” of the School Board not to allow complaints against specific employees during public comment and claims the board “deviated from its established practice” at the Feb. 4 meeting.

Whether the board and Kamras knowingly allowed defamatory statements to be made, as the lawsuit alleges, will likely be one of the major points on which the suit hinges.

Lead-up to the Feb. 4 meeting

The lawsuit alleges that two of Clemmons’ subordinates, one of whom previously held her position, filed complaints about her in the summer of 2024. She said that those complaints were investigated and found to be without merit in the fall of 2024.

According to the lawsuit, the two employees complained again during a closed session of the School Board in October 2024, before attempting to do so at a public comment period in November, at which time they were told they could not discuss the issue publicly.

In the days before the Feb. 4 meeting, the Richmond Education Association sent a 38-page document to Kamras and the board members with the written statements about Clemmons, according to the lawsuit, adding, “We will be seeing you at the February 4th School Board meeting and hope you can look us in the eyes and show us the respect we have long deserved.”

The speakers also signed up in advance to give public comment.

“In doing so, they expressly signaled their advance intention to publicly complain about Clemmons about obvious personnel matters,” the lawsuit says.

The REA’s parent group, the Virginia Education Association, has opined that such public comment is legally protected.

“Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act (‘VFOIA’) allows school employees, and their supporters, to speak during public comment on personnel matters,” the VEA wrote in June 2024.

The School Board’s rules governing public comment do not explicitly address whether complaints can be made about individual employees during that time. The lawsuit cites RPS anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies as being relevant to protecting Clemmons through the process.

A legal opinion issued in 2016 by then-Attorney General Mark Herring opines that the public is protected in its ability to address school employees by name during public comment periods at school board meetings.

However, the opinion does not explicitly state whether such protections are extended to employees of the district.

Clemmons’ future

Clemmons does not indicate whether she resigned or was fired in the lawsuit, only that she said she was asked to resign.

In May, The Richmonder reported that her job had been posted on the RPS site even as she remained on leave. The position was listed as paying $181,802.

A former teacher and school administrator, Clemmons came to RPS in August 2023 from the Virginia Department of Education, where she had been serving as the director of licensure and school leadership. She had also previously worked in Chesterfield as an assistant to the superintendent and early in her career did a stint with the Virginia House of Delegates. 

As chief talent officer, Clemmons oversaw numerous high-pressure changes the division has implemented, including the continuation of salary decompression and the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements after the School Board voted to embrace the practice in 2021.

Contact Michael Phillips at mphillips@richmonder.org.