Scott Lassiter, a Republican who ran for the state Senate in southern Wake County, is accusing his employer of sabotaging his campaign. In a lawsuit filed Friday in Wake County Superior Court, he claims the Wake County Public School System suspended him, leaked details of the personnel case and pressured him to resign in a way that helped Democrats in the 2024 election. He is asking the court for damages and to be reinstated as an assistant principal at Connections Academy.
According to The News & Observer, Lassiter’s complaint centers on a May 2024 incident at the alternative middle-school program, when he says he broke up a student fight. He alleges that months later, district officials publicized his suspension and used it as political ammunition in the closely watched Senate District 13 race.
The suit also says the district went a step further by filing an educator-misconduct report with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. That move, he argues, threatened not just his current job but his teaching license and long-term career.
What’s in the complaint
Lassiter’s filing says he initially agreed to a voluntary resignation, on the condition that the district keep the matter confidential. The lawsuit claims Wake County Schools violated that agreement by disclosing the personnel action anyway and by reporting him to state education officials.
The complaint notes that an educator-misconduct report can trigger a separate state inquiry that could jeopardize an educator’s license and future employment, according to the North Carolina Administrative Code. Lassiter also ties the district’s actions to his prior complaints about safety conditions at Connections Academy, suggesting his internal criticism of the school environment played into the decision to push him out.
What happened at Connections Academy
The dispute traces back to May 22, 2024. On that day, Lassiter and a teacher stepped in to break up a student fight at Connections Academy, an alternative middle-school program in Wake County.
As reported by WRAL, the district placed Lassiter on administrative leave in September 2024 while officials reviewed the incident. The timing proved politically awkward, since the dust-up at the school soon spilled into the public arena and became fodder during his run for the state Senate.
Connections Academy is listed among the district’s alternative schools and programs, according to the Wake County Public School System.
Attorney’s claim
Lassiter’s attorney, Woody Webb Sr., is blunt about what he thinks was really going on. “They wanted that Senate seat very, very badly,” he told The News & Observer, arguing that the suspension and the report to state officials were politically motivated.
Webb alleges the district deliberately leaked word of Lassiter’s suspension to damage his candidacy and blunt the Republican push for the District 13 seat. The lawsuit frames the school-discipline process as intertwined with partisan maneuvering rather than as a routine personnel matter.
Legal implications
Under state rules, a superintendent must investigate allegations that could justify disciplinary sanctions against an educator, and the State Board of Education has the authority to subpoena records and impose penalties. Those penalties can include suspension or revocation of an educator’s license.
Administrative investigations by the Department of Public Instruction run separately from any civil lawsuit like Lassiter’s and can bring long-term consequences for an educator’s career. The North Carolina code on educator investigations sets out the procedures and possible sanctions that Lassiter’s complaint references.
Political backdrop
Lassiter is no stranger to high-profile legal fights. In 2023, he drew statewide attention when he sued then-House Speaker Tim Moore over allegations involving Lassiter’s then-wife. Moore later acknowledged a relationship but denied trading political influence for sex, and the case was resolved, according to Business North Carolina.
In the 2024 general election, Lassiter went on to lose the Senate District 13 race to Democrat Lisa Grafstein, according to official results reported by Branch.vote.
What happens next
Lassiter’s lawsuit is now pending in Wake County Superior Court. The school district will have a chance to formally respond, and both sides could move into the usual phases of civil litigation, including discovery, pretrial motions and potential settlement talks.
Separately, any educator-misconduct report to the Department of Public Instruction could prompt its own investigation that runs independently of the civil case, keeping Lassiter’s professional future in limbo even as the court fight plays out.
