Former Warsaw principal files suit against former school board member and his wife

The former principal of Warsaw High School has filed a lawsuit in Benton County Circuit Court against a former Warsaw R-10 School Board member and his wife.

Jowell Roellig filed a petition of damages against Leo and Catherine Porter for defamation of character. Leo Porter resigned his position on the school board in September.

The Warsaw Board of Education met in a special closed session in April and unanimously voted to reassign Roellig for the duration of her contract for the 2009-2010 school year. The board stipulated Roellig would perform her duties off-campus and would need permission from the superintendent to enter any district campus. The board said one reason for the reassignment was an altercation involving Roellig’s husband, Danny Roellig, at a school board candidate forum.

Jowell Roellig is now a math teacher for the Warsaw R-10 School District.

The petition, written by O’Reilly & Jensen, Attorneys at Law, alleges the Porters have told third parties Roellig embezzled funds from the Warsaw School District, inappropriately touched a male student, had a sexual relationship with a male student, was fired as principal of the high school, is an atheist and was involved in evading the Missouri Teacher’s Retirement System and payments to teachers.

“The statements were made to many people in the community and have generally damaged Roellig’s otherwise good reputation in the community,” the suit states.

“(The Porters) have repeatedly spread lies to customers, students and community members about me,” Roellig said.

The Porters own Porter Chiropractic Clinic in Warsaw.

The petition alleges the Porters have published false statements about Roellig with malice and reckless disregard for the truth.

“As a result Roellig has sustained direct damages,” the suit states.

Calls to the Porter residence seeking comment were not returned.

According to the suit, Roellig has suffered loss of income, loss of standing in the community, humiliation and embarrassment.

Roellig is willing to make a one-time settlement deal with the Porters if they are willing to sign a notarized statement acknowledging they have discussed Roellig with members of the community. The Porters also are asked to admit they have no first-hand knowledge of any illegal or inappropriate behavior on Roellig’s part while she was an educator.

If the Porters return the notarized apology and $1 within 15 days, Roellig will dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice, which means the lawsuit can’t be re-filed unless the Porters make new comments that are defamatory.

Roellig plans to seek $250,000 in punitive damages and compensatory damages in an amount deemed reasonable by the jury if the Porters refuse the settlement deal.

“If (Leo Porter) chooses not to admit his guilt in slandering my good name then I will proceed with the lawsuit requesting a much larger settlement,” Roellig said.

The Porters were served with the lawsuit Oct. 27 by the Benton County Sheriff’s Department.

“I hope that my reputation will be restored and the community will realize that (Leo Porter) has lied and maliciously said things in order to hurt my reputation and character,” Roellig said.