OKLAHOMA CITY — Taxpayers will cover $132,000 in lawsuit settlements owed to two fired Oklahoma State Department of Education employees who sued former state Superintendent Ryan Walters and his senior adviser.
Cheryl McGee and Matt Colwell each sued Walters and Matt Langston in Oklahoma City federal court in 2023. Both had been fired that year for sharing agency information with individuals outside of the Education Department.
They contended Walters and Langston violated their First Amendment rights by putting an overly broad restraint on their speech. Because Walters and Langston were acting within the scope of their authority as agency officials, the state of Oklahoma is responsible for paying both plaintiffs’ settlements, under state indemnification laws…