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A former Memphis schools employee is suing the district, alleging that ex-Superintendent Marie Feagins exposed herself twice in 2024 and demoted her in retaliation for refusing her advances.
Camalyn S. Turner, who worked as Feagins’ special assistant for four months, is seeking $1.5 million from the Shelby County Board of Education, which operates Memphis-Shelby County Schools, alleging it created an abusive and hostile working environment.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court, Turner alleges she was forced to resign on Oct. 15, 2024, after two incidents of nudity and weeks of retaliation from Feagins. She didn’t report the harassment while an MSCS employee out of fear of further retaliation, the lawsuit says, but reported the incidents to district counsel shortly after resigning.
MSCS officials acknowledged the lawsuit but declined to comment further. Feagins is currently suing MSCS and district leaders in two of her own legal cases after she was suddenly fired from the superintendent role in January 2025. She is not named as a defendant in Turner’s lawsuit.
Feagins did not respond to Chalkbeat’s requests for comment. The Daily Memphian reported that Feagins denied the sexual harassment allegations after they were brought up by MSCS’ legal defense in a July 2025 hearing related to one of her lawsuits against the district.
“They used Ms. Turner’s allegations against Ms. Feagins for their own use,” said Murray Wells, who’s representing Turner in the case. “So it would be hard for them to deny that now.”
According to the lawsuit, Turner also filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging harassment and retaliation. The EEOC dismissed Turner’s complaint in August but notified her of her right to sue.
Wells said that process is just a formality.
“It’s not a finding on the merits at all,” he said.
Turner claims that she moved to Memphis to work as Feagins’ special assistant and stayed at Feagins’ residence as a short-term guest in August 2024.
On Aug. 19, the lawsuit says, Feagins called upstairs for Turner to come down and listen to a conversation she was having with a local school board member. Wells said it’s unclear whether that conversation was on the phone or not.
“When she looked up near the bottom of the staircase, Dr. Feagins was standing at the foot of the stairs completely naked, staring at Plaintiff and waiting for her,” the lawsuit says. Turner immediately turned around and went back upstairs.
The next day, Feagins gave Turner’s position to another employee and told her she would be transferred to a lower-paying role, saying she had “consistently failed to meet expectations.” Later that month, Feagins attempted to blame Turner for a budget overrun of more than $50,000 on an event called Legacy Night, which Turner says she had not helped plan.
The second incident happened in early October, according to the lawsuit, when Feagins “insisted” Turner remain in a room while she undressed. The next day, Feagins allegedly asked Turner to come to her home and dress her for an event. Turner declined.
After denying her advances, Turner alleges that Feagins sent her a “barrage of emails” the following week, trying to blame her for “district-wide failures in emergency parent communications.” She resigned shortly after.
“Having been exposed to the Superintendent’s nudity twice, demoted the day after the first exposure, publicly humiliated, falsely accused of financial misconduct, excluded from her own job, and threatened repeatedly with writeups and transfer, Plaintiff reasonably concluded that further retaliation was imminent,” the lawsuit says.
The day after Turner resigned, Feagins allegedly offered Turner an additional $20,000 to stay in her position. She did not accept the offer, according to the lawsuit.
Wells said MSCS officials conducted a “robust investigation” on Turner’s claims against Feagins after her resignation. Turner was initially hesitant to file a public lawsuit and attempted to resolve her complaints with the district, but the parties couldn’t come to an agreement, Wells said.
“Dr. Feagins is so polarizing,” he said. “There’s a faction of people here who are so loyal to her…there’s going to be public backlash. We didn’t want to be in that fight.”
In April, Turner secured an early win in another anti-retaliation lawsuit filed on her behalf against the Atlanta public school district. That lawsuit claims Turner was fired from a special assistant position after raising concerns about violations of federal disability law and grading discrepancies in the district.
A judge denied immunity to the school system and named leaders, meaning they could be held liable if found to have violated Turner’s rights. The Atlanta lawsuit is ongoing.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include information from an interview with Murray Wells.
Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.
Bri Hatch 2026-10-30 20:10:06
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