Grand Prairie ISD wants its suspended superintendent’s lawsuit against the district to be moved to federal court.
In a filing last week , GPISD requested the case be removed from Dallas County District Court so it could be handled as a federal case because of Jorge Arredondo’s claims that he was the target of racial discrimination.
Arredondo sued the district and trustees last month after he was laid off just a couple of months in his job as superintendent, alleging he had been denied the chance to defend himself against claims he had violated district policy. In his lawsuit, he said the district violated his contractual and constitutional rights.
The district says because federal law underpins Arredondo’s argument, it belongs in federal court.
“Although styled as a breach of contract claim and a claim that the District violated his due process rights under the Texas constitution, Dr. Arredondo’s most recent pleading ... now clarifies that these two causes of action are in fact federal in nature,” the district’s filing reads.
Attorneys for the district argue Arredondo’s claims that he hasn't been given the chance to defend himself aren’t “ripe under state law because the Board of Trustees has not even yet voted to propose termination of his contract.”
Arredondo was granted a temporary restraining order preventing the district from discussing his employment, defaming him or terminating his contract.
His attorney, Mary Nix, said they "haven't asserted any federal claims.
"I think that they were trying to avoid the TRO, which is void once they filed their notice of removal, and tried to avoid the injunction hearing" that had been scheduled for Friday, she said.
Nix said she expects to file a response to GPISD’s document this week to keep the matter in state court. It’ll then be up to a federal judge to rule on GPISD’s argument.
Bill Zeeble is KERA’s education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at bzeeble@kera.org. You can follow him on X @bzeeble.
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