QuickTake:

The court ruled that Eugene School District 4J must pay Sabrina Gordon’s lawyer almost $30,000 for attorney fees because of the district’s motion to strike, which sought to dismiss Gordon’s case on the grounds of free speech.

Eugene School District 4J’s attempt to dismiss former teachers union president Sabrina Gordon’s sexual harassment lawsuit backfired in a judge’s recent ruling, costing the district nearly $30,000.

Lane County Circuit Judge Charles Zennaché said in a ruling filed Monday, July 6, that the district’s motion was “frivolous.” Attorneys for 4Js sought to have the case dismissed on the grounds that any talk of an inappropriate relationship between Gordon and former Superintendent Andy Dey was merited due to the public interest in their relationship and thus qualified as free speech. 

In its motion to dismiss the lawsuit, 4J attorneys cited so-called anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) laws, which give defendants an avenue to dismiss cases based on people exercising their freedom of speech about “a public issue or an issue of public interest.”

Zennaché ruled against 4J’s motion to strike in February, saying the case was not ultimately about rumors of Gordon and Dey’s relationship, but was about the district’s response to them. When he asked 4J attorney Jennifer Gaddis in the Feb. 17 hearing if she knew of any other cases in which the anti-SLAPP law was used to stop a sexual discrimination or harassment case, she said she did not know of any cases.

Zennaché doubled-down on this ruling in his decision to award attorney fees to Gordon’s lawyer, Diane Sykes.

“The Court is and was unpersuaded that the legislature ever intended the Anti-SLAPP statute to provide employers a defense to the kinds of claims at issue in this case,” Zennaché wrote.

Gordon’s lawsuit contends that the district did not properly investigate and respond to her complaints about district employees spreading rumors that she and Dey had a sexual relationship, an allegation she and Dey deny.

After Zennaché let the case proceed in February, Sykes filed a request in mid-March for fees totaling $29,609.50 due to the fast turnaround caused by the district’s motion to strike and the amount of information needed to defend her client against the motion. She argued that 4J’s motion forced her to present much of her case.

“The Defendent’s motion was a novel and unprecedented application of the Anti-SLAPP motion and as such undoubtedly forced Defendant’s counsel to do extensive research,” Zennaché wrote. He awarded Sykes the amount she requested.

Gordon’s case is now headed for a jury trial, which is scheduled for Jan. 12.

Lilly is a graduate of Indiana University and has worked as a journalist at the Indianapolis Star and in Burlington, Vermont, as well as working as a foreign language teacher in France. She covers education and children's issues for Lookout Eugene-Springfield.