Jury: Kalispell school district retaliated against parent for reporting sexual harassment

A jury ruled Thursday afternoon that employees of Kalispell School District 5 retaliated against a parent for reporting that one of his son's friends had been sexually assaulted by fellow wrestlers. 

The basics

The lawsuit started Monday and proceeded in Missoula's federal court before magistrate Judge John Johnston. It was filed by Kirk Nance and his son Clifford Nance.

In 2023, Clifford was a homeschool student who competed on the Glacier High School wrestling team. 

One of Clifford's friends on the wrestling team disclosed to Kirk that he had been sexually assaulted on a bus by fellow wrestlers. 

Kirk, the student's mother and another wrestling parent filed a police report about the allegations on Jan. 9, 2023, court proceedings show. The police contacted the school, and administrators began meeting to discuss their response.

Shortly after this report was made, Kirk was asked to no longer attend wrestling practices and eventually barred from school property, according to court documents. He was also cited for disorderly conduct after coaching staff called the Missoula Police Department on him at a hotel the team was staying at before a meet. Clifford said that, after this incident, coaches stopped coaching him and blocked a request he made to transfer to another school. 

In a lawsuit filed in January 2025, Kirk accused the district of retaliation. The school district denied the actions were retaliatory, instead claiming they were in response to Kirk's conduct.

Federal Title IX statute prohibits retaliation for reporting sexual harassment.

Monday: Opening statements and wrestlers

On Monday, attorneys for the Nances and school district provided opening statements before testimony began in the case.

"The evidence in this case will show that the school district retaliated against Kirk and Cliff," the Nances' lawyer, Avery Field with Bliven Law Firm, said in opening statements on Monday.

Field said the actions the coaches took against Kirk, such as barring him from practices and reporting him to the police, weren't warranted by anything Kirk had done.

He concluded by showing an email from the district's Title IX coordinator in the aftermath of the 2022 wrestling season, saying that one of the volunteer coach's conduct "could have been received as retaliatory."

The school district's attorney, Elizabeth O'Halloran, said on Monday the district's actions against Kirk had nothing to do with his report and everything to do with his conduct.

O'Halloran said that, shortly after school administration became aware of possible sexual harassment allegations, wrestlers were told to refrain from talking about any sexual harassment investigations with anyone but their parents and the school's Title IX coordinator to preserve the integrity of the investigation.

Kirk was barred from practice for being disruptive and distracting to wrestlers, O'Halloran said, adding Nance had been aggressive at the hotel where the police were called for the disorderly conduct citation, and pointed out he was the only one who was cited.

"People have been excluded from district property for much less," O'Halloran said.

She said that Clifford's transfer request wasn't up to district staff to approve or deny, and was declined by the Montana High School Association due to incomplete information, then was approved when the Nances provided it.

O'Halloran said the investigation into the wrestling team allegations involved other reporting parties who experienced no adverse action from the district, and that the Nances were barely involved in the investigation or the district's response.

"The Nances were playing their own 'gotcha' game," O'Halloran said.

For their first slate of witnesses, the plaintiffs called two other members of the 2023 team to the stand. Both are being represented by Bliven Law Firm in their own actions against the school district.

The two men testified that Kirk regularly attended practice prior to January 2023 and was never disruptive, nor did they see him ask wrestlers questions about the Title IX investigation after it started. 

Plaintiffs also called Lloyd Bondy, who was a school board member at the time. Bondy testified that district policy required a hearing before someone was banned from school grounds, and that Kirk had not been offered one when the athletic director told him he was trespassed. 

Steven Biggs, another wrestling parent, testified about his experience reporting what he'd heard about assault on the team. He was also involved with the initial report to police, though he said he didn't make it directly. 

He testified that, on Jan. 13, 2023, he was on the phone with Kirk, who was in a Missoula hotel at the time prior to a wrestling meet, when he heard one of the volunteer coaches aggressively confront Kirk. 

Finally, Clifford took the stand and affirmed the plaintiff's narrative of the case: that his father hadn't ever been aggressive or interfered with the investigation.

Clifford said his transfer request was only approved after he had his attorneys write to Montana High School Association asking for a hearing.

Tuesday: Athletic staff

On Tuesday morning, the plaintiffs started witness testimony by calling Garrett Melton, a volunteer coach at the time, to the stand.

According to court proceedings, Melton was also the father of one of the students accused of participating in harassment and hazing, and Melton's son was later disciplined by the school district and removed from the team. 

Plaintiffs also called Ross Dankers, head wrestling coach at the time. 

Both Melton and Dankers stated they hadn't directly heard Kirk interrogating students, but were still concerned about his behavior. Dankers said he tried to keep Kirk from talking to students to preserve the integrity of the investigation. 

Both Melton and Dankers said they knew that Kirk was somehow involved in the initial reports of harassment, but not what his exact role was, and denied any retaliatory motivations.

On Tuesday afternoon, plaintiffs called Mark Dennehey, athletic director at the time, to the stand.

Dennehey testified that on Jan. 11, 2023, he removed Kirk from wrestling practice after Dankers contacted him and requested it. Dennehey was told that he'd heard from another coach that Nance had been questioning students at the tournament the previous weekend. 

"There's an unwritten rule that parents aren't to be interfering with our students while they're competing," Dennehey said. 

Dennehey said he had a conversation at the school with Kirk the next day where Kirk requested a Title IX complaint form as he felt he was being retaliated against. Dennehey said that, because he felt Kirk was accusing him of retaliation, he didn't feel it was appropriate to provide that form, so he referred Kirk to the district office. Dennehey said he felt Kirk was "baiting" him. 

Dennehey also said he was in Kalispell on Jan. 13, 2023, when Kirk was cited at the Stone Creek Lodge in Missoula. 

On Jan. 14, 2023, Dennehey issued a trespass notice via text to Kirk. He said this was prompted by Kirk's previous "escalation," the citation the previous day, and a text from Kirk shown as evidence where Kirk said he knew the coaches were scared and they should be.

According to Kalispell School District 5 School Board policies presented throughout trial, trespass notices need to be delivered via certified mail with an opportunity for a hearing before the board. 

Dennehey acknowledged he advised against Clifford Nance's transfer to Flathead High School, saying he didn't see a reason for Clifford to transfer and didn't want to set a precedent for parents' poor behavior leading to exceptions to rules. 

Much of the questioning throughout testimony circled around how much school administration knew Kirk was involved in reporting sexual harassment allegations to police. On Jan. 9, 2023, Biggs sent an email to the Glacier High School principal referencing the report, which listed Kirk's name at the bottom. 

In his deposition, Dennehey said he received this email and discussed it with the principal shortly after. In testimony, Dennehey said he since "was told" he had not gotten the email. Field questioned him on this, at which point defense counsel objected on grounds of protecting attorney-client privilege. 

Dennehey stated he hadn't read the names at the bottom of the email. He said as soon as that email was received, the district began a Title IX investigation. 

Dennehey acknowledged that after that wrestling season, Garrett Melton was asked to no longer be a volunteer coach, though he said that Melton wasn't interested in returning as a coach. 

The defense then called Kirk to testify.

Kirk testified that he'd never interrogated any kids about alleged sexual harassment or hazing. He said he reported the assault he heard about first to the mother of his son's friend, then to police. 

Kirk said he'd had multiple conversations with school staff where he told them what was going on and expressed he felt retaliated against. He stated he'd been cited by Missoula police at the lodge because coaching staff made false statements about him. 

Trial went into recess in the midst of Kirk's testimony, to be resumed the next day.

Wednesday: Plaintiff rests

On Wednesday morning, Field asked Kirk to explain texts he'd sent to coaches, including one where he referenced sending a video of the Missoula hotel citation incident to an attorney and one where he replied to the trespass notice with "WINNING."

Kirk said the "WINNING" text was meant to show his commitment to seeing the matter through, and the "video" he referenced was internal security footage he thought the hotel would have. 

Kirk said that, to his knowledge, he is still barred from Glacier High School. 

He said he and his son are asking for $1 in damages.

"This isn't about money," Kirk said. "This is about the safety of students." 

In cross-examination, Kirk read testimony from his deposition that he didn't remember sending the "WINNING" text. 

He also didn't dispute that he'd asked his son to ask fellow wrestlers if they knew anything about any hazing incidents. 

The student who initially reported the assault, referred to as KB, also testified. 

KB said that Kirk had approached him in a non-disruptive way the weekend before the report was made, expressing concern for his well-being. 

In police interview footage shown by the defense, KB told police Kirk had initially suspected him of being a perpetrator of hazing. 

The plaintiff's final witness was Sara Cole, Title IX coordinator for Kalispell School District 5.

Cole testified about the timeline of the investigation. She said she had some concerns that Melton's behavior could be received as retaliatory, and also had some concerns that he and his wife had been coaching his son's answers during a Title IX interview. 

Cole said she thought Melton's behavior could have been retaliatory toward the student who reported his son's conduct, not the Nances. 

Cole said that Kirk didn't report anything directly to the school district, and had canceled a meeting she'd scheduled for later in January 2023 to meet with him and Clifford. 

She also stated that the Nances weren't involved in any specific protective measures for KB. 

She said in response to Field's questions that a parent alleging to a school administrator they felt retaliated against for reporting a sexual assault incident should trigger a Title IX complaint, and that Dennehey hadn't specifically reported to her that Nance had made allegations of retaliation. 

Wednesday: The district's case

Wednesday also saw the school district present its entire case in chief. 

The district first called Brad Holloway to the stand, who was the Glacier High School principal at the time. 

Holloway testified that Kirk had come to meet with him on Jan. 12 and voiced concerns about the wrestling team. Holloway said Kirk hadn't brought up any issues about retaliation or given him any specific information about the wrestling team incidents, so Holloway didn't feel the need to take notes on the meeting, which he said was short. 

Then-Superintendent Micah Hill, currently superintendent of Missoula County Public Schools, also testified on Wednesday and said he wasn't involved in investigating the Title IX complaint and wasn't aware that Kirk was directly involved in reporting harassment allegations to police.

Hill said it was common practice for a trespass notification to be issued without approval from the school board, and that a hearing was only necessary when the ban was intended to be permanent with no exceptions. 

Brian Michelotti, executive director of the Montana High School Association, said he would have denied Clifford's initial transfer request even if Dennehey had approved of it because it lacked sufficient information. He said he reversed his decision later after receiving more information from Clifford and his lawyers. 

The defense then rested its case. 

Thursday: Closing arguments and verdict

After the jury was read its instructions Thursday morning, trial proceeded into closing arguments.

"We're here today because the defendant, Kalispell School District 5, knew that Kirk and Cliff engaged in protected activity," Field told the jury. "And then the defendant targeted the plaintiff." 

Field used his closing statement to drill down on inconsistencies in testimony from Melton, Dankers and Dennehey. He pointed to the fact that, despite the coaches' allegations that their actions against Kirk were to protect students from interrogation, the district hadn't called a single student who testified that they'd been grilled by Kirk. 

"Where were all of the interrogated students?" Field asked. "How many students did they call that said that?" 

O'Halloran delivered closing statements for the district.

"In order to find for the plaintiff, you are going to have to listen to little pieces of the evidence without listening to all of the evidence," O'Halloran said. 

O'Halloran said the actions against Kirk had nothing to do with his role in reporting sexual assault and everything to do with his aggressive conduct toward coaches, such as the incident at the Missoula hotel.

"What you observed in the video was an individual who was erratic, argumentative, even to the police," O'Halloran said.

O'Halloran said that throughout January 2023, the school district took all of its actions with the goal of protecting students and conducting a complete investigation. She warned that awarding the Nances their nominal damages of $1 would set a bad precedent. 

The jury then began deliberations around noon, and returned a verdict after about two and half hours. 

The jury found in favor of the Nances, ruling that they'd participated in activity protected under Title IX and that the school had taken adverse action against them because of it.

Kirk and Clifford Nance will be awarded $1 each in nominal damages. Their attorneys also plan to seek attorney's fees, according to Michael Bliven, a member of the plaintiff's legal team.

"We're just happy the truth came out," Field told the Missoulian after the trial. "It's been a long time coming."

Field was not yet sure how this verdict will affect the Bliven Law Firm's other cases representing former wrestlers with the Glacier High School wrestling team. 

"As the attorneys for the district, of course we are disappointed in the verdict, but respect the process that the jury went through," Kevin Twidwell, member of the district's legal team, said.