Joelle Ogletree: Accusations, Mistrial, and Failed Lawsuit

Joelle Ogletree is a former French teacher at Glen Rose High School in Somervell County, Texas, who was fired in October 2002 over allegations that she had sexual contact with male students. A criminal prosecution ended in a mistrial and was never retried, and a Texas administrative law judge later found the allegations fabricated and let her keep her teaching license. Her wrongful termination lawsuit against the Glen Rose Independent School District nevertheless failed, dismissed on procedural grounds rather than on the merits.

The Accusations and Firing in 2002

In the fall of 2002, accusations surfaced that Ogletree had engaged in sexual conduct with as many as four male students. On the evening of October 1, Principal Jeff Harris called her and placed her on administrative leave. Two days later, on October 3, he formally terminated her.¹

When she asked Harris whether she could tell her side or get a hearing, she was not given a full account of the allegations or told how to respond. Superintendent John Bailey told her the termination was a “final decision” and later acknowledged in a deposition that nothing she could have said would have changed his mind. Bailey offered to meet with her on October 4, but that meeting was canceled after she retained a lawyer. In December 2002, her attorney requested a closed-session hearing before the school board. The district never responded, saying the request was untimely under its grievance policy.¹

The Criminal Case Ended in a Mistrial

In January 2003, Ogletree was indicted on two counts of sexual assault of a child.² Prosecutors offered a plea deal, which both her husband and her lawyer urged her to accept. She refused.³

The case went to trial. On the second day of testimony, the judge granted the prosecution’s motion for a mistrial. The district attorney then declined to bring the case again, ending the criminal proceedings without a verdict.²

An Administrative Judge Cleared Her

In January 2004, the Texas State Board for Educator Certification opened its own investigation to decide whether to revoke her teaching certificate. The matter went to the State Office of Administrative Hearings, where Administrative Law Judge Gary W. Elkins held a three-day hearing in June 2006, taking testimony from about fifteen witnesses and reviewing nineteen exhibits.⁴

The findings were blunt. Elkins concluded that the agency’s staff “wholly failed to prove its allegations” and that the alleged misconduct did not occur. He found Ogletree credible and her accusers not credible, describing some of the allegations as “implausible and even impossible.” One accusation involved a color guard uniform in the spring of 2002, but Ogletree did not become the color guard sponsor until that fall. He recommended no disciplinary action and full renewal of her license. The State Board adopted his findings, and Ogletree kept her certification.⁴

What the Accusers Said

One student, identified in administrative records as Sam F., retracted his allegations. In a 2007 television appearance, Ogletree said this student admitted lying and described pressure from the school administration to make the accusations.³ Another student first denied the allegations, then affirmed them, then denied them again.² Two students stood by their accusations, but the ALJ found their claims fabricated.

Ogletree also said the district interviewed the accusing students together in the same room, a setup she argued made it harder for any one of them to recant, and that administrators questioned them as many as ten to twenty times.³

Why Her Lawsuit Failed

With her license restored but the district refusing to reinstate her, or even to let her volunteer at her daughter’s elementary school, Ogletree sued. She brought two main claims: breach of her employment contract, and a civil rights claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging gender discrimination.¹

After earlier procedural skirmishes, the trial court granted summary judgment for the district, and on February 10, 2010, the Waco Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal on two grounds.¹

On the contract claim, the court found she had not exhausted the district’s mandatory grievance process, which required a written grievance to her supervisor, an appeal to the Board of Trustees, and then an appeal to the Texas Education Commissioner. She argued that pursuing the process would have been futile because Superintendent Bailey had called her termination “final,” but the court held that the futility exception required her to show it was certain her claim would be denied at every level, not just by the superintendent.
On the Section 1983 claim, the court ruled it was barred by the two-year statute of limitations. She was fired on October 3, 2002, giving her until October 3, 2004 to file. She did not file the Section 1983 claim until April 27, 2005.

A later appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit also went against her.² No court ever found her termination was justified; she lost because of filing deadlines and unused grievance steps.

The Cost

On Fox News’s Hannity & Colmes in August 2007, Ogletree said she had spent more than $100,000 on her defense and refinanced her home twice to cover the bills. Her attorney, Henry Jones, said the school administration had “rushed to judgment” and compared the case to the Duke lacrosse scandal, saying Ogletree had been “Nifonged.” Even after the criminal case collapsed and the state board cleared her, she had not returned to teaching at the district that fired her.³

1
Findlaw. Ogletree v. Glen Rose Independent School District, No. 10-08-00392-CV
2
Justia. Ogletree v. Glen Rose Independent School District, No. 11-50170
3
Fox News. Wrongly Accused of Sex With Students: Joelle Ogletree’s Story
4
AntiPolygraph.org. SOAH Docket No. 701-06-1196.EC, Proposal for Decision