KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A woman who wants voters to elect her next week to a seat on the Olathe School Board won part of a federal lawsuit against a current board member and nominal damages of $1.
Jennifer Gilmore sued current Olathe School Board member Joe Beveridge and two top employees of the district: Brent Kiger and Jim McMullen.
Beveridge is the incumbent Member 7 At-Large School Board member, but is not running for another term.
Gilmore is running for the seat held by Beveridge.
Her opponent for that seat is Will Babbitt, who finished first in the primary race. Gilmore finished second.
The jury found Beveridge, who was board president when Gilmore spoke at a January 13, 2022, board meeting, engaged in viewpoint discrimination when he stopped Gilmore from speaking at the school board meeting.
Gilmore drew Beveridge's ire with her comments that included a mention of Jim Randall, a well-known political figure in Olathe and Beveridge's father-in-law, according to the lawsuit.
Beveridge told McMullen to remove Gilmore from the meeting, according to the lawsuit.
McMullen and Kiger told Gilmore she needed to leave the district's administration building, and Gilmore eventually complied.
While the jury awarded Gilmore $1 for nominal damages, which is what she sought. The jury did not find punitive damages should be assessed against Beveridge.
The judge threw out the other claims in the lawsuit, including those against Kiger and McMullen.
