Officials denied allegations and liability in response to lawsuit
RAPID CITY, S.D. – The Rapid City School District has released settlement details in a federal lawsuit brought by a former teacher who sued the district last year after she alleged a sexual relationship with her former principal.
Jenny Griffin filed a suit accusing the district of violating her civil rights, and the settlement was entered into federal court at the end of February. Griffin resigned as assistant principal at Rapid City Central High School when the school board approved the settlement in January, KOTA-TV reported.
The Dakota Scout began requesting the settlement under South Dakota’s open records law in early March, but the district didn’t release the agreement until Thursday night.
The agreement calls for Rapid City schools to pay $250,000 to Griffin. The district did not admit fault.
“It is expressly understood and agreed that payment and settlement of the claims and causes of action of releasees are the compromise of disputed claims, and that the payment is not to be construed as an admission of liability on the part of releasees, their agents, employees, successors, administrators, or assigns to the claims set forth by releasor,” the agreement says. “No party to this agreement admits liability or fault, nor does any party demand the same.”
Assistant Superintendent Cory Strasser said in an email that the settlement was paid by the district’s insurer, Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co.
The Scout reported last April that Griffin alleged she was hired at Central High as a counselor in 2011 by Mike Talley, then the principal. For several years, she said Talley made physical advances on her, and when she attempted to get a job at another school, Talley hurt her chances because he wanted her to remain at Central High.
Griffin moved from counseling to teaching and was assigned to a different building, where she alleged that Talley became hostile.
But in 2021, Griffin enrolled in a graduate program to earn her administrator certification. She alleged Talley supervised her internship and continued grooming her, though she said she repeatedly rebuffed his advances, including on weekends when he would come to her office when she was working on her certification.
During a planned fire alarm on March 9, 2021, while the school was emptying, Talley initiated sexual contact with Griffin and the two had sex later that day, according to the complaint.
“After the first incident, the grooming behavior ceased, but Mr. Talley having opened the door, continued to initiate sex,” the complaint alleged. “These encounters took place several times between March 9, 2021, and April 3, 2023. Mr. Talley initiated sex in Jenny’s office, his office, one of the classrooms at Central High School, in a meeting room, in a training room, and in an extra-large office at Rapid City High.”
Talley alleged the relationship was consensual.
Griffin said she complied with the advances because she felt compelled, as Talley was her direct supervisor. In 2022, Talley became an assistant superintendent, a position he held until the district fired him in June of 2023. She accused the district of violating her civil rights by not protecting her from his advances because it had known he harassed other women he supervised.
A separate party in the suit, the South Dakota Department of Education, had already been dismissed from the action.
