Former South MS superintendent, school district settle lawsuit over her abrupt firing
Former Hancock County School Superintendent Teresa Merwin and the School District have settled a lawsuit that she filed over being fired in August 2022.
The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The Sun Herald reached out for settlement details Monday from Merwin’s attorney, Kaye Persons of Biloxi, and school district attorney Mark Alexander.
Persons said Tuesday morning that it would be “inappropriate” to discuss details of the settlement. “We were just pleased to have an amicable settlement,” she said.
The Sun Herald also filed a records request asking for school records that would show the settlement agreement, including any amount paid to Merwin. The district responded by email, saying Alexander indicated there were “no documents” responsive to the request. Alexander has not returned a telephone call from the Sun Herald.
Records the school district filed in the case confirm Merwin’s assertion that she was fired because she provided public records without charging for them. But the district added that records she provided were “privileged” and said Merwin also was fired because she failed to address “accreditation issues.”
The community was shocked by her abrupt departure and wanted answers about what happened.
Merwin said she was fired over providing the public records without charge but that the district had a customary practice of releasing a small number of records for free. She gave the records to her former sister-in-law, Karen Necaise, who had requested them.
When she was fired, Merwin had 22 months remaining on a three-year contract that paid her $125,000 a year. Merwin said in court records that she later got a position as a principal in the Hattiesburg School District but was unlikely to get another job equivalent to the one she held in Hancock County.
Merwin contended a “media maelstrom” ensued after she was fired and she was unable to defend herself because the district initially and wrongfully denied her a pre- or post-termination hearing. The district maintained in response to the lawsuit that Merwin was terminated for cause and lacked grounds to sue.
Merwin asked in the federal lawsuit that she be reinstated with back pay. Documents filed with the lawsuit show the district maintained Merwin could be fired immediately under the terms of her contract because she violated board policy, state law or regulations.
She was replaced by current Superintendent Rhett Ladner, who was initially appointed as interim superintendent.
This story was originally published October 1, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
