A Livingston Parish man has sued his ex-wife and the school board that employs her over claims that they have ignored a court-ordered judgment and have refused to allow him to take custody of his son.
Scotty Ray Counce filed a lawsuit against Lisa Kraus McMorris, Tangipahoa Parish School Board, Mark Kolwe, Lionel Jackson, Jay Stuckey, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office and an unknown deputy, and Sheriff Daniel Edwards on Aug 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
According to the complaint, following a hearing on Sept. 25, 2013, Counce was named Eric Paul Counce’s domiciliary parent. In the summer of 2014, Counce was hospitalized due to a serious illness. During his hospitalization and recovery, Eric Counce resided with McMorris. After recuperating from his illness, Counce claims that he contacted McMorris several times in an effort to retrieve his son.
On Aug. 14, 2014, Counce claims that he presented Jay Stuckey, principal of Jewel M. Summer High School where Eric Counce attended, with a certified copy of the Sept. 25, 2013, judgment granting his custody of his son and requested that Stuckey release his son to him. Counce claims that Stuckey refused to do so. The other defendants named in the case also did not assist Counce with the release of his son in various other instances, the complaint states.
Counce seeks damages for mental and emotional pain and suffering, deprivation of rights and punitive and exemplary damages. He is represented by New Orleans-based attorney Frank G. DeSalvo and Shannon R. Bourgeois of Frank G. Desalvo APLC.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana case number 2:15-cv-03464-NJB-KWR