Teacher sues over claim she ‘slandered’ governor over ban on mask mandates

by Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch
June 12, 2023

A former Waukee schoolteacher is suing the school district, alleging she was forced to resign after being accused of slandering Gov. Kim Reynolds over the state’s ban on schoolhouse mask mandates.

Katherine Rinken is seeking unspecified damages from the Waukee Community School District for alleged freedom-of-speech violations, retaliation and gender-based discrimination.

In her lawsuit, Rinken states that in 2019, she was hired by the Waukee schools to teach world history at Prairieview School. Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a new law May 19, 2021, banning public schools from requiring students and staff to wear masks to inhibit the spread of COVID-19. Rinken alleges that when she learned of the action the next day, she expressed outrage in a private Snapchat message and in doing so she used some form of “vulgar” terminology that’s not specified in the lawsuit.

Later that day, Prairieview High School Principal Mark Stallman informed Rinken that a member of the public had sent him a screenshot of the Snapchat message, according to the lawsuit. Stallman allegedly told Rinken the comment had created a “distraction to the learning environment” and he suspended Rinken for the remainder of the school year.

According to the lawsuit, on the same day Rinken posted her private Snapchat message, a male teacher had posted a message to his publicly accessible Facebook page that said, “F— Kim Reynolds.” That teacher, the lawsuit claims, was not disciplined. In addition, a male teacher who had recently been convicted of drunken driving, and whose mugshot was being circulated by students, was not disciplined, the lawsuit claims.

Later in the week, Rinken alleges, she learned she was being investigated by school officials due to false rumors that she was running a pornographic site on OnlyFans, a subscription-based social media platform commonly used by sex workers.

The lawsuit alleges that on May 28, Stallman, Associate Superintendent Terry Hurlburt and the district’s human resources director met with Rinken and told her there was “compelling evidence” that she operated an OnlyFans site, asked her about unfounded rumors that she had once been under the influence of drugs or alcohol at work, and also asserted that she had “slandered” the governor in her private Snapchat post.

To fight the allegations, Rinken says, she would have had to endure a public hearing “like she was on trial for being a witch,” and where parents “could line up to speak against her.” She claims that she resigned with the understanding that the district would extend her teaching license and would “write positive letters of recommendation” for her.

Her lawsuit was recently transferred from state court, where it was filed last month, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. The school district has yet to file a response.

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