Richland 1 unlawfully replaced Keenan AD while was deployed to Iraq, lawsuit says

Editor’s note: The story has been updated to report that Dameon Franklin was named athletic director at C.A. Johnson after accepting a job there, post-deployment, as an English teacher.

The Richland 1 school district is being accused of violating federal law by replacing Keenan High School’s athletic director while he was serving in combat zones for the U.S. Army Reserve.

Dameon Franklin, the former athletic director and English teacher at Keenan, said in a lawsuit filed in federal court earlier this month that even though he helped run the athletic department remotely while he was deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, the school’s principal replaced him.

“While Mr. Franklin was serving the country in Iraq and Afghanistan, the principal of W.J. Keenan decided to place a friend in that role,” said Franklin’s attorney, George Harper.

The suit portrays Franklin as continuing to do his job as a teacher and athletic director from overseas. Franklin used an online program to teach English classes and provide individualized feedback to students. Student assignments were sent to him and he graded them. He continued to run the athletic department using teleconferences, email, phone calls and texting, the suit said.

Federal law allows an employer to temporarily replace a soldier when he or she is deployed overseas. But when that person returns, the employer has to give him or her the job back, according to Cornell Law School’s website.

But that is not what happened at W.J. Keenan, according to the lawsuit.

“You can’t not give a deployed service person his position back when they return,” Harper said.

Rather, Franklin was offered a job as an English teacher at C.A. Johnson High School with a lower salary and fewer responsibilities, the suit said. While athletic director at Keenan, he made $88,000 a year, and the job he was offered paid $55,000, a reduction that runs contrary to the law, Harper said.

After initially being hired as an English teacher at C.A. Johnson, he was named as the school’s athletic director, but was not restored to his $88,000-per-year salary, Harper said.

Franklin was deployed from March 2019 to January 2020, according to the suit.

The suit also alleges Richland 1 failed to pay Franklin a total of $28,695 while he was deployed.

Richland 1 spokeswoman Karen York said the district does not comment on pending litigation.

This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 5:00 AM.