SC judge throws out former school board member’s attempt to sue ‘conspiracy’
A South Carolina judge has rejected a former Midlands school board member’s attempt to sue his former board colleagues, knocking back his conspiracy claims for a second time.
Judge Daniel Coble issued a decision on Feb. 9 ending former Lexington-Richland 5 school board member Ken Loveless’ attempt to sue two other former school board members and the school district’s former attorney for forming an alleged conspiracy against him.
Coble rejected an attempt by Loveless to add conspiracy claims against his former colleagues Beth Hutchison and Ed White as well as former district attorney Michael Montgomery and White’s wife Bea White to an existing libel suit Loveless brought against current school board member Kevin Scully.
The judge rejected the effort on multiple grounds, he wrote in his decision.
“The Court finds that the claims are barred by legislative immunity,” Coble wrote, meaning the alleged actions by Hutchison and White were undertaken within their role as school board members, which enjoy broad legal protections. “Additionally, the claims against Defendant Montgomery are barred by the attorney-client relationship,” since he was acting as the board’s attorney at the time.
“The Court finds that the claims are barred by the applicable statute of limitations (and) The Court finds that the claims failed to meet the basic pleading standards and are therefore barred,” the judge concluded.
Loveless’ complaint dates back to 2020, when then-board members Hutchison and White publicly accused Loveless of unethical conduct due to his prior business relationship with the company building a new elementary school in the district, a project Loveless was actively involved with while on the school board. Loveless was later found to have violated the S.C. Ethics Act by the state Ethics Commission and required to pay $6,000.
After he lost a re-election bid in 2022, Loveless brought a First Amendment suit in federal court against the former board officials for allegedly violating his free speech rights. U.S. District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis later dismissed that suit, saying that Loveless was unable to show a specific injury he suffered that was caused by the actions of the defendants.
Loveless later attempted to add the defendants to a separate libel lawsuit he filed in state court against Scully for critical comments Scully had made about Loveless on Facebook, alleging that Scully’s actions were actually part of the larger alleged conspiracy involving the other defendants.
Those claims were rejected by the circuit court last week, although Loveless’ original libel case against Scully, who was subsequently elected to a seat on the Lexington-Richland 5 school board himself, is still ongoing.
Eugene Matthews, who represented the conspiracy defendants along with Drew Radeker and Robert Peele, declined to comment for this story pending a formal written order from the judge dispensing with the case. Loveless attorney Desa Ballard did not respond to a request for comment before this story was published.
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