A former school employee has credibly alleged she experienced retaliation after her Arapahoe County school board removed her job responsibilities when she reported one board member’s sexual harassment, a federal judge has ruled.

In June 2016, Deer Trail School District 26J hosted a fundraiser golf tournament, in which Karee Klassen helped distribute alcoholic beverages to the participants, according to court documents. At one of the holes, then-board President John Price leaned out of his golf cart and allegedly said, “Show me your [breasts],” using a vulgar term for the female anatomy.

Price subsequently repeated his comment at a different hole to Klassen and another female colleague, the documents read. Candice Reed, also a board of education member, allegedly told Klassen that the group of golfers had been “saying that all day.” Reed did not respond to an email from Colorado Politics seeking comment.

Several people who were present did not have clear memories of the reported exchange, citing their alcohol consumption in their depositions. Price, in his own deposition, said he recalled someone making the lewd comment to Klassen, but denied it was him.

Just over one week following the tournament, the board of education renewed Klassen’s contracts as dean of students, athletic director and transportation director. Subsequently, Klassen reported Price’s behavior at the tournament to then-Superintendent Kevin Schott. She also complained that her compensation for transportation director was less than a man who previously held the job.

Over the next year, the board removed Klassen as dean of students, and declined to rehire her as athletic director and transportation director. That meant a loss of approximately $4,500 annually to Klassen. She returned to her old job as a social studies teacher, but resigned after the 2017-2018 school year.

Following her resignation, Klassen sued the school district alleging violations of Title VII, the federal civil rights provision that bars employment discrimination. In a March 31 order, Senior U.S. District Court Judge John L. Kane found Klassen had plausibly alleged a connection between her complaints to Schott and the board’s removal of her job duties.

“Ms. Klassen’s argument that the School District availed itself of the first possible opportunity to retaliate has some merit,” Kane concluded, adding that Klassen “has highlighted a suspicious chronology of events.”

Klassen started working for the district in eastern Arapahoe County in 1994 teaching social studies. She subsequently became the transportation director and the athletic director. In 2014, the district also made her dean of students.

In 2015, Schott allegedly told Klassen her job was in jeopardy. One year later, two new members elected to the board of education similarly expressed concern about Klassen’s job performance. Although she had experienced largely positive job reviews, Klassen had committed a handful of errors in her three simultaneous positions — including letting her commercial driver license expire as transportation director and accidentally canceling the annual parent night as athletic director.

The school district argued to the court that the mistakes Klassen made in her multiple positions of responsibility were grounds for ending her contracts. But Kane reiterated that the board actually renewed her contracts for the 2016-2017 school year. It was only after the complaints about her treatment that the board changed its view of her.

“This begs the question: what happened in the 2016-2017 school year that justified a significant change in Ms. Klassen’s employment? The School District has been silent on that point,” the judge observed.

Kane added: “[T]he decision to allow Mr. Price — the subject of the sexual harassment complaint — to participate in the vote against Ms. Klassen’s contract renewal was dubious. A rational jury could infer retaliatory motive on these facts.”

Neither attorneys for the school district nor for Klassen responded to a request for comment.

The case is Klassen v. Deer Trail School District 26J.