Judge denies preliminary injunction to reinstate Dr. Feagins as MSCS Superintendent
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A Shelby County judge denied a preliminary injunction filed by former Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins to reinstate her as the school district’s superintendent.
Dr. Feagins filed that preliminary injunction in June, asking the judge to, among other things, restore her to the position of superintendent, a position she lost in January when the MSCS Board voted to terminate her.
The former superintendent argued that MSCS Board members met privately to orchestrate her termination before holding a vote on the matter. The judge wrote that, despite Dr. Feagins’ calling three witnesses during the injunction hearing, there was not enough evidence to find that Dr. Feagins would be likely to prevail after a full evidentiary hearing.
The judge also pushed back on Dr. Feagins’ claims that the way the MSCS Board handled her termination caused irreparable harm to her professional reputation.
“Under Tennessee law, the loss of employment and loss of income do not constitute irreparable harm justifying a temporary injunction because those types of losses can be remedied through an award of money damages. The purpose of a temporary injunction is to prevent irreparable harm,” the judge wrote.
The judge argued that any damage to Dr. Feagins’ reputation was done on the day of her termination, and that a temporary injunction could not prevent that damage. Acknowledging that MSCS experienced a “disruption” on the day of Dr. Feagins’ termination, the judge argued that to restore her to the role of superintendent would only cause “further disruption,” again citing that to do so would not prevent the damage caused by her termination.
The judge did allow that Dr. Feagins may be granted a permanent injunction if she could prove to the court that MSCS violated the Public Meetings Act.
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