NEW ORLEANS -- Constance Jenkins filed a federal discrimination lawsuit on November 8 in the Eastern District of Louisiana against Washington Parish School Board, Tricia Smith and Frances Varnado.
According to the complaint, Jenkins was hired in 2019 by the Washington Parish School Board as a licensed practical nurse to work at Mt. Hermon School. The entire school system shut down in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, Jenkins publicly supported Reginald McMasters as a candidate for Washington Parish Council in an election against Shane Smith, husband of Tricia Smith.
Smith had requested that Jenkins support her husband, but Jenkins did not do so, and Mr. Smith was not elected.
In September 2020, Jenkins returned to campus when schools re-opened and ran into Mr. Smith on campus, the suit says. Jenkins alleges that Mrs. Smith commenced an unrelenting assault on Jenkins’ employment and reputation, which culminated in multiple violations of federal and state laws and ultimately led to the false allegations that gave rise to her improper termination.
In March 2021, Smith presented Jenkins with written documentation of a verbal warning in which Mrs. Smith detailed a list of issues dating back six months that had not been addressed previously, the suit says.
Jenkins cites other alleged instances of Smith criticizing and disciplining Jenkins for reporting openly racist and incendiary behavior by a teacher, being disciplined for changing her email after getting married, not being given permission to documents needed to administer vaccinations and other instances. Jenkins alleges that her First Amendment rights were violated as Mrs. Smith targeted her and retaliated for Jenkins not supporting her husband's candidacy.
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Louisiana case number 2:21-cv-02063-JTM-JVM