By Shereen Siewert
Mosinee school and police officials are no longer facing a lawsuit filed in federal court by a former middle school teacher, after her claims were either withdrawn or dismissed.
The teacher, Christy Mathis, lost her job after a 12-year-old child made allegations of sexual misconduct against her. In January 2022, Mathis filed a federal lawsuit against multiple defendants including Mosinee School Superintendent David Muñoz, School Board President Kevin Hermening, Middle School Principal Brad Grube, the city of Mosinee, Mosinee Police Chief Kenneth Grams, Officer Eric Krause and the child’s parents.
Mathis, in her complaint, said the girl in March 2021 made up allegations that she was touched sexually as part of a plot to get the teacher in trouble. Principal Grube investigated the complaint by interviewing students who claimed to be witnesses as well as other students in the room. The investigation led to child sex charges filed in Marathon County Circuit Court against Mathis that were later dismissed after some students’ backtracked on their claims.
On April 5, 2021 Mathis was arrested and charged with first-degree child sexual assault. She was placed on administrative leave two days later and was terminated on July 12, 2021 by the Mosinee School Board.
In her lawsuit, which names her husband as a co-plaintiff, Mathis alleges she was the victim of lies and malicious prosecution that led to her dismissal. But as Wausau Pilot & Review previously reported, district officials had already approved a preliminary notice of non-renewal for Mathis on March 16, 2021, nine days before the student made her accusations.
Mathis sought damages, attorney fees and court costs, and compensation for “the injuries and damages sustained for loss of consortium,” with interest. Despite the timeline outlined in public documents that showed a series of disciplinary actions against her, Mathis insisted that the Mosinee School District pursued the investigation for the “improper purpose of finding a justification to terminate (Mathis’) employment and in an effort to cover up the Mosinee Police Department’s and their own reckless handling” of the “false and defamatory accusations” against her, according to court documents.
In a previous statement to Wausau Pilot & Review, Superintendent David Muñoz confirmed that Mathis’ non-renewal was unrelated to the criminal charges and instead were the result of years of performance issues that, despite multiple improvement plans, were never resolved.
The court case continued and one by one, claims were dismissed against nearly each defendant.
Mathis, however, continued pursuing action against Officer Krause, whom she alleged violated her right to due process by failing to adequately investigate the touching allegations. She also claimed the officer acted maliciously with regard to the criminal proceedings against her.
But on Friday, a U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin Judge issued a summary judgment dismissing the claim against Krause. In the decision, Judge James Peterson said Mathis “failed to present evidence that she was deprived of either a protected property or liberty interest” or that Krause had a level of personal involvement in her termination.
Only three defendants now remain, none of whom are associated with the district or the police department. Mathis can apply for default judgment against them, but if she fails to do so the court will “assume she is no longer interested in pursuing her claims” and will close the case.
An attorney for Mathis could not be immediately reached for comment.
