Fired Kansas City area teacher sues, claiming discrimination as white, male Christian

A former Harrisonville science teacher fired a year ago for allegedly making racist comments in the classroom contends in a federal lawsuit that the district discriminated against him when it terminated his employment.

John Magoffin filed the lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court in Western Missouri against the Harrisonville School District, alleging the district violated his civil rights by retaliating against him and firing him.

Superintendent Paul Mensching, said he was unable to comment about the suit because it’s a personnel issue and because they have not received formal notification.

The suit centers around the Harrisonville school board’s decision to fire of Magoffin for allegedly using the n-word during an AP Biology class, making disparaging remarks about the Black Lives Matter movement and females who wear leggings, and referring to Martin Luther King Day as “Black Privilege Day.”

His firing came after the district held a public hearing that lasted nearly 12 hours in June 2021.

“The Board concluded that Mr. Magoffin’s use of inappropriate language violated the rules and regulations of the District and was unacceptable conduct for a tenured teacher in the District,” the school district said in a statement when it announced its decision on July 1, 2021.

In his lawsuit, Magoffin, who denies using the n-word, contends he was singled out for “state sanctioned single-viewpoint discrimination” for trying to teach students higher-level of thinking and analytical skills that challenged their viewpoints. He said he was trying to prepare them for real world situations.

He pointed out that as part of the district’s freshman and sophomore level courses, students are required to read “To Kill a Mockingbird” which uses the n-word in its entirety.

He contends he was condemning the use of the word when his discussion about race and language identification with a student was overheard by others.

“This benign discussion turned into a federal case because the District was bent on reverse discrimination, retaliating, and canceling a white, male, Christian teacher, who some might label as conservative, from the education culture of Harrisonville for fear of backlash,” the suit said.

He contends the district discriminated against him based on his race, color, sex and religion and retaliated against him when he complained that administrators suspended him in April 2021.

The suspension allegedly came within a week after Magoffin had a discussion with the son of Superintendent Mensching about the Mormon religion and opinions about classifying Mormonism as a branch of Christianity.

Magoffin was concerned the superintendent triggered an investigation based on that discussion, according to the lawsuit. He contends his complaint about religious retaliation was not investigated until a month after he was fired.

Magoffin contends his rights were violated under the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and Missouri Human Rights Act. He seeks in excess of $75,000 in damages.