South Carolina school board member sues two critics for libel

A school board member for South Caroline filed libel lawsuits against two district residents in connection to a Facebook group that has several posts that are critical of the member.

The State of Columbia first reported that Lexington-Richland 5 Vice Chair Ken Loveless filed the suits against Kevin Scully and Leslie Stiles. 

According to that report, Scully previously made critical comments about Loveless in a Facebook group entitled “Deep Dive in to D5.” Stiles is the administrator of the Facebook group. The suits were both filed in Richland County last week.

Loveless claims that Scully, the husband of a teacher employed in the 17,000-student suburban district in Columbia, has made “numerous and repeated defamatory statements voluntarily published on the internet… with specific knowledge they were false and/or with a reckless disregard for whether they were false or not.”

One of the comments cited in the lawsuit is “Crooked Ken is an unethical hypocrite and a liar.” The suit additionally alleges that the statements were “made with actual malice, and with an intent to harm the reputation of Loveless.” 

The second suit claims that Stiles is also liable as she made several comments herself and approved posts critical of Loveless. Other than the two personal suits from Loveless, the school board is also suing a former superintendent who had complained to the district’s accrediting agency regarding its process for hiring a new superintendent.

Over the last year, the board also voted on two censure motions which Loveless supported against school board members.