Trial proceedings will begin Tuesday in a civil case of a George Washington High School counselor who said she was defamed and represented in a false light by officials at the school and the Kanawha County Board of Education.
Four women and four men were selected to serve on the 6-member jury, with two alternates, Monday afternoon in the courtroom of Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Joanna Tabit.
Eighteen jurors in total were questioned to be seated on the jury for the case, in which the counselor, Mary "Kackie" Eller, says she was put in a false light and defamed by George Washington Principal George Aulenbacher in 2015 when she was suspended for a month from her job and became the topic of an email written and sent by Aulenbacher.
Eller has worked for Kanawha County Schools since 1965, with exception of a 9-year period in which she left to care for her children, she said in the civil complaint. She'd worked as a counselor at George Washington for 30 years as of August 2015, when the lawsuit was filed.
Aulenbacher became principal of George Washington High School in 2010, and Eller said he would often ask her when she was going to retire and introduced her by saying "she taught George Washington."
On February 13, 2015, Eller claims Aulenbacher and two of the school's vice principals entered her office and informed her she was suspended, taking her keys and school technology away from her. Kanawha Board of Education members approved the suspension on Feb. 18 on the grounds of "insubordination and/or willful neglect of duty," and Eller said the suspension was based on erroneous grounds and a gross misunderstanding of applicable law, according to the complaint.
Eller said she received another letter on Feb. 23 saying an investigation was being conducted in response to a complaint received by school district officials. The civil complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court does not include the nature of the complaint to Kanawha County Schools or the investigation against Eller.
On March 13, following discussions between Eller's attorney and district officials, she was allowed to return to work with limitations, and her office was moved next to Aulenbacher's.
Between March 6 and March 19, Aulenbacher published an email with the subject line "Kackie Eller Senior Counseling Issues," which Eller said included information about her that was false and private, as well as private information about students.
The email was circulated among parents and students, Eller said in the complaint.
Eller is seeking general compensatory damages, special damages and punitive damages in addition to court costs and attorneys fees.