Monroe County Board of Education v. Barbarietta Turner-Pugh

── Monroe County Board of Education v. Barbarietta Turner-Pugh ── Court: Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama Date: June 05, 2026 Author: Matt Fridy Category: General Rel: June 5, 2026 Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance sheets of Southern Reporter. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Alabama Appellate Courts, 300 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104-3741 ((334) 229-0650), of any typographical or other errors, in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is published in Southern Reporter. ALABAMA COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS OCTOBER TERM, 2025-2026 _________________________ CL-2025-0707 _________________________ Monroe County Board of Education v. Barbarietta Turner-Pugh Appeal from the Decision of the Students First Act Hearing Officer (2025 100) FRIDY, Judge. The Monroe County Board of Education ("the Board") appeals from the decision of a hearing officer appointed pursuant to the Students First Act ("the SFA"), § 16-24C-1 et seq., Ala. Code 1975, reversing the Board's decision to terminate the employment of its tenured employee, Dr. CL-2025-0707 Barbarietta Turner-Pugh ("Pugh"). For the reasons set forth herein, we reverse. Background On December 19, 2024, Monroe County school superintendent Gregory L. Shehan ("the superintendent") issued a written notification to Pugh that he was recommending the termination of her employment as director of student services based on allegations of failure to perform her duties in a satisfactory manner, incompetency, insubordination, and other good and just cause. The notice advised Pugh that she had a right to request a termination hearing and that, upon timely written notice from her, the Board would provide her with written notice of the date of the hearing. On December 20, 2024, Pugh submitted a timely written request for a termination hearing. On December 26, 2024, pursuant to the SFA, she submitted a written notice of contest demanding all procedural protections afforded by law, stating that her attorneys would be notifying the superintendent of their appearances, and requesting that any further correspondence be directed to her attorneys. Pugh did not identify any attorneys by name in her written notice. 2 CL-2025-0707 When Pugh requested the hearing before the Board, she was already involved in an employment-discrimination action ("the federal case") in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama against the Monroe County School System, the Board, and the Board's members in their official capacities. Pugh was represented in the federal case by Christine Hernandez and other attorneys in her law firm. The attorneys who represented the superintendent in this case, Mark Boardman and Katherine Watkins, also served as counsel for the Board and its members in the federal case. In a letter dated January 3, 2025, the superintendent notified Pugh that the Board had set the termination hearing for February 6, 2025. The letter advised Pugh of her rights under the SFA; established prehearing procedural deadlines that required submission of witness lists, exhibits, and subpoena requests by January 27, 2025; and provided that the superintendent's anticipated witness list and exhibits would be produced by the same deadline. The letter asked Pugh to provide an e-mail address for her or her attorney for service of materials. On January 6, 2025, attorney Leston C. Stallworth, Jr., sent written correspondence to the superintendent, copying the 3 CL-2025-0707 superintendent's counsel, Boardman, advising that he represented Pugh in connection with th