Former Richmond Schools official accuses school board of aiding in ‘smear campaign’
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RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- A former Richmond Public Schools (RPS) official who was terminated after employees accused her of creating a toxic, discriminatory work environment is suing the city's school board, claiming its members helped orchestrate a "smear campaign" against her.
Maggie Clemmons, who became RPS' Chief Talent Officer in late 2023, was placed on administrative leave in early February after several employees spoke out against her at a Feb. 4 Richmond School Board meeting. RPS later announced Clemmons would "not be returning to the role."
Eighteen employees presented a 58-page document they'd compiled, which outlined numerous allegations of racism, workplace bullying, verbal harassment and the creation of a hostile workplace environment within RPS' Talent and Finance Department.
Months later, on Wednesday, Sept. 10, Clemmons filed a lawsuit, accusing the school board, all of its members and RPS superintendent Jason Kamras of defamation. She also claims they violated her right to due process.
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"This case is about a smear campaign," the lawsuit states. "In early 2025, a group of disgruntled [RPS] employees set out to destroy the reputation of Clemmons, then serving as RPS Talent Director. They did not confine their grievances to internal channels; instead, they coordinated with one another, informed the School Board and Superintendent Jason Kamras of their intentions and provided in writing the false and inflammatory accusations they planned to air publicly during the February 4, 2025 School Board meeting."
The night of this heated meeting, 8News spoke to some of these aggrieved employees, who described their experiences.
“Sometimes I feel used up and forgotten like a slave on a plantation," payroll technician Lameeka Evans told 8News. "That should not be the atmosphere that we’re in."
Shirley Maxwell, a substitute specialist, spoke of a specific encounter she claims she had with Clemmons.
“Shortly after she started her role, we had a brief conversation where she mocked my accent in an extremely public area,” Maxwell said.
These statements, alongside several others, are laid out in Clemmons' lawsuit.
"These comments were false, malicious and defamatory on their face," the lawsuit states. "They were designed to inflict maximum reputational harm on Clemmons in a public forum, and they succeeded."
The lawsuit accuses these employees of "tak[ing] advantage and/or exploit[ing] RPS' human resource policies, especially the grievance process" because they were "well entrenched in their jobs and had no desire or willingness to take directions from a new supervisor like Clemmons."
According to the lawsuit, accusations made by two employees were "thoroughly investigated" and "found to be without merit" by fall 2024. However, these employees reportedly went to the School Board to further escalate "the same baseless allegations that had been dismissed, while also introducing additional accusations," as well as new allegations made by other employees.
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Clemmons claims that the school board "specifically decided it would allow" her to be "publicly trash[ed]" prior to the Feb. 4 meeting. Her evidence includes the fact that multiple people who signed up for public comment wrote that they would be speaking about Clemmons.
Then, an email exchange included within the lawsuit shows school board members discussing employee complaints about Clemmons. A document compiling these complaints was attached to the email.
At the bottom of the document, the employees state: "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."
"Defendants had full knowledge that numerous RPS employees were planning to publicly defame Clemmons," the lawsuit states. "They also knew exactly what defamatory comments those employees intended to say. However, none of the defendants-- individually or collectively -- took any effort to prevent the defamation, or to stop it once it began."
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There is precedent that personnel matters are considered private and therefore not appropriate topics for public comment, according to Clemmons. However, the School Board "deviated from its established practice" on Feb. 4.
"This was a new and unprecedented policy, adopted by the individual defendant members of the Board -- acting for themselves and as the School Board as a unit -- just days before the meeting," the lawsuit states.
Clemmons claims Kamras informed her of the employees' intentions and the board's decision to allow them to speak shortly before the Feb. 4 meeting took place. The lawsuit states Kamras "acknowledged that the allegations against Clemmons were baseless and serious, but stated that no one would prevent the speakers from making them during public comment."
The lawsuit also claims that the media coverage of this meeting, as well as RPS' swift decision to remove her from her role, "created the clear public impression that the false accusations about Clemmons were true."
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"The School Board and Kamras knowingly and willfully allowed Clemmons to be viciously defamed without any ability to defend herself and then, without any due process, RPS told the entire world that it was terminating her because the defamatory accusations about her were true," the lawsuit states.
Clemmons is seeking potentially millions of dollars in financial compensation, though the exact amount would be determined at trial.
8News reached out to RPS for a statement on this lawsuit. A spokesperson for the school district said that RPS does not comment on personnel decisions or pending litigation.
