An attorney for fired Easton Area High School wrestling coach JaMarr Billman asked a federal judge to impose sanctions on the school district for allegedly withholding an important document during Billman’s ongoing discrimination trial.
The school district’s attorney says in court papers the document isn’t in its possession. The district isn’t sure why former Superintendent John Reinhart had the document or where it came from, attorney Sharon O’Donnell stated in court papers.
Former Easton Area School District Superintendent John Reinhart said he testified about the reprimand he imposed on then-Assistant Superintendent Alyssa Emili after she fired Billman. Billman claims in his lawsuit he lost his job because he’s Black.
The draft version of the reprimand says Emili “failed to recognize the impact your differential treatment of the only black coach in the league would have in the public and the negative impression it would create in our school system,” according to a court filing by Billman’s attorney, John S. Harrison.
Testifying remotely, Reinhart produced the signed, final version of the reprimand where that paragraph was removed.
Harrison filed a motion for sanctions Friday accusing the school district of failing to turn over the key piece of evidence. He received only the preliminary, unredacted version of the reprimand and looked unprepared in front of the jury, he wrote.
O’Donnell wrote in a response on Monday that the final version of the reprimand isn’t in Emili’s personnel file, nor could it be found after a thorough search of emails by the district technology staff. The district shouldn’t have to pay the $5,800 sought by Harrison for having to produce depositions and transcripts in connection with the search for the final draft.
Reached Monday, Reinhart said he put the final draft of the reprimand in Emili’s file and the school district ought to have it.
“I testified I did write the letters. I did place those in the file. It was very important at the time,” Reinhart said Monday.
Billman’s lawsuit says he was abruptly told in 2018 he would not be retained as the wrestling coach. Demonstrators accused the Easton Area School District of discrimination, and three days later Billman was told he would be back as coach.
Reinhart noted that he was the administrator who decided to keep Billman on. He also started diversity and inclusion measures in the Easton Area School District that set the foundation for initiatives underway today.
In 2020, Billman was told again he’d not be welcomed back. He then sued the Easton Area School District.
The district filed court papers saying Billman’s racism claims were investigated and found to be baseless. The papers say Billman failed to enlist the support of parents and the wrestling community, which led wrestlers to leave the Easton Area team.
Neither O’Donnell nor Harrison responded to requests for comments about the ongoing trial.
Billman’s brief ouster in 2018 led to an outside investigation, which uncovered concerns about the district’s workplace climate and the fear from some employees that they’d face retaliation for speaking out.
Billman’s discrimination trial started Tuesday, June 21, in Philadelphia. He seeks $20,300 in back pay and unspecified amounts of front pay, punitive damages, compensatory damages and attorney fees.
U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter is presiding over the civil trial. Court papers filed by both sides anticipated the trial would last about a week.
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Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV.
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