(Full Title: Doe et al. v. Mount Vernon City School District Board Of Education et al.)

On June 13, 2008, the "Doe" (pseudonym) family filed suit against the Board of Education of the Mount Vernon City School District, Ohio; against the district's superintendent and the principal of Mount Vernon City School; and against John Freshwater, their son's eighth-grade science teacher at the aforementioned school.

In its complaint, the Doe family claimed that Freshwater had proselytized in class, displayed religious material (which was not for his personal use) in the classroom, attacked evolution and taught intelligent design, and branded students with a Tesla coil; James Doe had received a painful brand on his arm in the shape of a cross. The Does also claimed that Freshwater had led prayer sessions for a Christian student club, and had violated various other administrative policies. When the Does complained to the principal and district administration, the latter did not take action to correct Freshwater's behavior or to prevent retaliation against their son. The Does' suit charges the defendants with violating the Establishment Clause and their right to free speech.

Shortly after the filing of this suit, the Board voted to terminate Freshwater's employment. Freshwater appealed, and an administrative hearing on the termination decision is currently underway. Freshwater filed a counterclaim in this suit against the Does on September 2, 2008, and filed his own lawsuit against the school district and associated persons in June 2009. The Doe family agreed to testify in the termination hearing under their true names, making their identities public, and voluntarily lifted the protective order keeping their identities secret. The Protective Order remains in place with respect to the identity of all minors other than James Doe.

On the night of August the 26th, the Board reportedly agreed to a settlement with the Does; this does not affect the portion of the lawsuit brought against Freshwater.

Key legal documents for this case are provided at the bottom of this page. They are arranged in chronological order.

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Related NCSE Articles

News: Creationist teacher sued in Ohio

News: Creationist teacher in Ohio to be fired

News: Hearing scheduled for creationist teacher's appeal in Ohio

News: Partial settlement in Freshwater case

Related Off-Site Material

Extensive blog coverage at The Panda's Thumb, including Richard Hoppe's day-by-day accounts of Freshwater's termination hearing

Coverage of the Freshwater Controversy at the Mount Vernon News

Mount Vernon News: School board resolves federal lawsuit

Coverage of the Freshwater case at the Columbus Dispatch. See the "Read the Report" and "Web Extras" sections of this page for district documents relevant to the case.

Attachment	Size
6/13/08: Original Complaint	96.95 KB
6/13/08: Plaintiffs' motion for protective order	97.32 KB
6/23/08: Court grants protective order	8.6 KB
8/11/08: Amended complaint	42.13 KB
8/13/08: Defendant Freshwater's motion for extension of deadline	10.83 KB
8/15/08: Court order granting extension	8.65 KB
8/20/08: Defendant Board's motion for extension	16.87 KB
8/21/08: Court order granting extension	8.83 KB
9/2/08: Defendant Board's answer to complaint	42.57 KB
9/2/08: Defendant Freshwater's answer to complaint	53.8 KB
9/2/08: Defendant Freshwater's counterclaim to complaint	32.03 KB
9/19/08: Plaintiffs' and Board's motion for new protective order	141.43 KB
9/22/08: Plaintiffs' answer to Freshwater's counterclaim	16 KB
9/23/08: Defendant Freshwater's opposition to new protective order	898.54 KB
9/23/08: Defendant Freshwater's memorandum in opposition	993.14 KB
9/26/08: Defendant Freshwater's supplemental memorandum in opposition	81.39 KB
9/26/08: Plaintiffs' and Boards' reply to Freshwater's memoranda	317.18 KB
9/29/08: Court order granting Freshwater leave to file supplemental memorandum	7.52 KB
9/29/08: Defendant Freshwater's supporting memorandum in opposition	56.19 KB
9/30/08: Court denies new protective order	20.22 KB
10/9/08: Court order on pretrial scheduling	14.88 KB
10/9/08: Court order on trial scheduling	7.54 KB
11/7/08: Court grants new protective order	12.99 KB
1/21/09: Plaintiffs' Exhibit A for above motion	292.09 KB
1/21/09: Plaintiffs' Exhibit C for above motion	828.8 KB
1/21/09: Plaintiffs' withdrawal of motion as to Board	16.07 KB
1/22/09: Plaintiffs' withdrawal of motion as to Freshwater	16.11 KB
1/29/09: Court notice of settlement week conference	8.03 KB
6/10/09: Memorandum relating case to Freshwater v. Mount Vernon Board of Education	69.23 KB
7/24/09: Notice of deposition of Does, August 18	23.52 KB
8/6/09: Motion for admission of Leslie E. McCarthy pro hac vice	91.52 KB
8/6/09: Order on motion for admission	17.48 KB
9/30/09: Agreed motion to dismiss Defendants Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education, Stephen Short, and William White	21.5 KB
10/1/09: Order dismissing all claims against Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education, Stephen Short, and William White with prejudice	22.97 KB
10/9/09: Joint motion to extend the discovery deadline	38.51 KB
10/13/09: Entry granting joint motion to extend the discovery deadline	27.53 KB
11/13/09: Motion by Plaintiffs to manually file limited electronic media as exhibits in support of a motion for summary judgment	87.88 KB
11/16/09: Plaintiffs' motion to amend a prior protective order	82.13 KB
11/16/09: Order on motion for leave to file	8.04 KB
11/16/09: Order amending prior protective order	33 KB
11/16/09: Plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment	140.49 KB
11/16/09: Plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment with exhibits	32.21 MB
11/16/09: Defendant's motion for partial summary judgment	1.81 MB
12/9/09: Defendant's Rule 56(f) motion for extension of time to file a memorandum in opposition to Plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment or in the alternative to supplement his memo	110.92 KB
12/9/09: Defendant's Rule 56(f) motion for extension of time to file a memorandum in opposition to Plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment	13.97 KB
12/9/09: Plaintiffs' opposition to Defendant's Rule 56(f) motions	19.12 KB
12/9/09: Defendant's reply memorandum in support of his Rule 56(f) motion	37.38 KB
12/10/09: Order on motion for extension	8.26 KB
12/30/09: Plaintiff's motion to compel production of documents and further deposition of John Freshwater	415.64 KB
12/31/09: Plaintiffs' memorandum in opposition to Defendant's motion for partial summary judgment	61.06 KB
12/31/09: Defendant's memorandum in opposition to Plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment	9.88 MB
12/31/09: Counterclaimant/Defendant John Freshwater (in his personal capacity) memorandum in opposition to Plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment	46.24 KB
1/7/10: Motion for permission to file out of time to amend/correct, adding exhibits to the previous memorandum	37.34 MB
1/7/10: Order on motion for permission to amend	8.36 KB
1/14/10: Plaintiffs' reply in support of their motion for partial summary judgment	4.17 MB
1/14/10: Defendant's reply memorandum in support of his motion for partial summary judgment	1.54 MB
1/20/10: Defendant's memorandum in opposition to plaintiffs' motion to compel	32.99 KB
1/20/10: Counterclaimant/Defendant John Freshwater (in his personal capacity) memorandum in opposition to Plaintiffs' motion to compel	43.93 KB