A former school bus driver who won $218,000 in a federal court case after she was fired has now filed a civil lawsuit against the district and two of its supervisors.
Debra Youren contends in a case filed in 3rd District Court on May 6 that she was unfairly dismissed because she doesn't support the polygamous beliefs that "exert an overt influence at the school."
She also alleges the district violated Utah's nepotism laws, subjected her to discrimination that violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, violated her First Amendment right to free speech and her civil rights.
Youren is suing Superintendent Patricia Hunter-Rowse and West Desert High School principal Ed Alder as individuals and in their official capacities.
Hunter-Rowse said she knew nothing about the suit and had no comment Thursday.
Youren alleges that after she tried to report government waste and legal violations at the high school, she was improperly fired from her bus-driving job in 1998 and was replaced by a less qualified man.
"Alder and Hunter-Rouse wanted a white, male polygamist in this position because of his sex and affiliation with the polygamists and because he would not object to the problems occurring at the school," Youren's civil suit states.
She also said she was unlawfully forced into a psychological examination and her children could not be enrolled in school there "partly because of this sectarian influence at the school" exerted by polygamists.
Youren contends that district employees and minor students are "actively recruited" at the school to become polygamist wives.
Youren is seeking both general damages of not less than $25,000 and up to $250,000 and punitive damages of the same amount.
Last year Youren won $218,000 in a federal lawsuit against the district regarding her firing. She tried to re-sue the district in federal court, but a judge said her claims that the local polygamist community controls the district should be heard in another forum.
E-mail: lindat@desnews.com