COLUMBUS — Gregory Frost, U.S. District Judge, has issued another gag order which relates to the ongoing litigation surrounding the Mount Vernon school board’s intent to fire middle school science teacher John Freshwater. This one has to do with the civil suit filed against the school board by Freshwater.
On June 17, the attorney representing Freshwater and those representing the Mount Vernon Board of Education and co-defendants filed a joint motion for a gag order. The petition was apparently a pre-emptive move to ensure confidentiality of discussions pertaining to the case. A settlement conference between the parties, to be held before Mediator Randolph Wiseman, is scheduled for Monday.
The order issued by Judge Frost on Friday states, “The parties are hereby ordered not to disclose or to permit others to disclose any of the confidential settlement negotiations that have been or will be exchanged by and between the parties involved in this action.
“The Court will not tolerate violations of this Gag Order. Any violation will meet serious consequences, including monetary sanctions and other sanctions up to and including the most severe this Court can impose.”\
