Woman sues Otterville School District, claims First Amendment rights were violated after she was banned from games
Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A woman has sued the Otterville School District and its superintendent, claiming that her First Amendment rights were violated after she was banned from athletic events in the district.
The lawsuit – which was filed in the Western District Court of Missouri on Tuesday – says Teni Northern was banned from her grandchildren’s games after she sent a message on Facebook to a junior high and high school volleyball coach about her coaching.
Superintendent Dan Kruse allegedly sent Northern an email that reprimanded her behavior and Kruse claimed there was a “parent meeting” about the coach and “that she was trying to be helpful,” according to details from the lawsuit. The Facebook message to the coach was sent on Sept. 15 and Kruse responded to Northern on Sept. 17, court documents say.
Northern allegedly met with Athletic Director Kate Wittman and Kruse on Sept. 23 and was banned from attending high school volleyball games, according to the lawsuit. She was still allowed to attend junior high games. Wittman allegedly said the district could not bar her from attending away games, Kruse allegedly asked other school administrators to enforce the ban, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims junior high and high school volleyball games are often held the same day at the same location. Northern allegedly “was not supposed to be on the varsity side,” during a pair of Sept. 25 away games, according to the petition. Kruse allegedly allowed Northern to stay for the varsity game, but Northern had to stand next to the superintendent during the game, court documents say.
Northern allegedly made a “general” post on social media that led to her getting banned from junior high games, the petition says. Northern allegedly tried to appeal the decision to the Board of Education on Oct. 15, but Kruse’s decision was upheld, the petition says.
She was then sent an email — which was shown in court documents – that banned her from sporting events for the rest of the school year. A subsequent email sent a corrected suspension until Jan. 1, 2026.
“On September 17, 2025, we held a meeting to discuss your inappropriate and disrespectful communications with Otterville coaching staff, including over social media and involving students. I reminded you that we had previous conversations last year about this same type of issue, reiterating that your negative communications would not be tolerated and requesting again for you to speak to the coaching staff in a respectful manner,” the email from Kruse shown in court documents says.
“After our meeting, you again communicated with the coaching staff in a disrespectful manner. We met a second time and I advised that you were suspended from attending high school volleyball games. Subsequently, you attended three more volleyball games – once lying to District staff, falsely telling them that I had given you permission to attend the game, and once dressing and sitting in the opposing teams section so you would not be recognized.”