Maggie Clemmons, a former Richmond Public Schools chief talent officer, is suing the district’s leadership for $6.35 million, alleging defamation and due-process violations after employees publicly accused her of discrimination, harassment and other misconduct during a February School Board meeting.

The federal suit, filed last week, names the Richmond School Board and Superintendent Jason Kamras. It claims they allowed employees to carry out “a smear campaign” during the meeting, when 18 staffers accused Clemmons of workplace harassment, favoritism in hiring, and unethical behavior and called for her removal. 

“I was pushed out of my position without any justification or due process,” Executive Office Associate Jodi Granger said during the meeting, claiming that Clemmons replaced her in her role in the Benefits and Compensation Department with a younger, white woman. “She is truly messing with my livelihood.” 

Clemmons was placed on administrative leave two days after the meeting, and an email obtained by reporters shows RPS stated that she would “not be returning to the role” after the position was reopened in May. 

“The School Board and Kamras knowingly and willfully allowed Clemmons to be viciously defamed without any ability to defend herself,” Clemmons’ suit reads, “and then, without any due process, RPS told the entire world that it was terminating her because the defamatory accusations about her were true.” 

Clemmons’ suit alleges that the board and Kamras violated the board’s “settled policy” that bars complaints about specific employees during public comment. 

The suit cites RPS’ anti-discrimination, bullying and harassment policies to argue Clemmons’ right to privacy, and notes that other employees brought up separate complaints against her during a board meeting’s public comment period last October. 

Those comments, based on complaints the suit says had already been investigated and found without merit, were halted by then-Board Chair Dawn Page, who said they were “not appropriate at this time” and would be addressed in a closed session. 

Clemmons’ suit also cites a 58-page document containing the employees’ testimonies sent by Talent Office and Finance Department staff and the Richmond Education Association to board members and Kamras ahead of the meeting as evidence. 

The suit notes that other school systems have explicit rules prohibiting the sharing of personnel complaints during public comments. RPS’ Guidelines for Participation during public information periods bar speakers from making “personal attacks on anyone,” but do not specifically address allegations against individual employees. 

When reached for a response to the suit, an RPS spokesperson said the division does not comment “on personnel matters or ongoing litigation.”