In a significant development, a federal judge has ruled that a wrongful termination suit filed by a Llano County librarian—allegedly fired for refusing to remove books from library shelves as ordered by county officials—can go forward.
In a 23-page decision dated August 27, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman—the same judge who, in March 2023, ordered several books banned by Llano County officials returned to library shelves—denied most of the Texas county’s motion to dismiss librarian Suzette Baker’s wrongful termination suit, trimming only a small part of the suit as duplicative. Despite claims from Llano County that Baker, the former head librarian at Llano County’s Kingsland library, was dismissed for insubordination, Pitman found that Baker had plausibly asserted that she was fired for opposing orders to improperly pull books that overwhelmingly represented the LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
“Baker alleges that she was associated with patrons who were racial minorities or members of the LGBTQ community because she protested the removal of books that advocated for CRT and LGBTQ rights. Baker also alleges she was punished and terminated for advocating against the removal of pro-CRT and LGBTQ books. Based on these factual allegations, it is plausible that Baker was terminated in part because she advocated for minority groups against the wishes of Defendants or was associated with these groups,” Pitman found. “It is plausible that the stated reasons for Baker’s termination—insubordination, creating a disturbance, and failing to follow directions—were pretextual. It is also plausible that Defendants’ policies themselves were unconstitutional, and that those actions preceded any alleged insubordination by Baker.”
First filed in March of 2024, Baker is seeking economic damages including back pay, compensatory damages including for emotional pain and suffering, and punitive damages “to the maximum amount permitted.” In June, Baker was honored at the Authors Guild’s 32nd Annual Gala in New York with the inaugural Champion of Writers Award—presented in New York by George M. Johnson, author of such frequently banned titles as All Boys Aren’t Blue—for her courage in fighting book bans in Texas.
Baker’s 2022 firing was one of several factors that motivated a group of concerned citizens to file a federal lawsuit against Llano County officials in April 2022. In March 2023, Pitman issued a preliminary injunction ordering several books returned to library shelves and blocking further removals, holding that the evidence showed that they were likely removed because of their viewpoint or content.”
In June, after a year of waiting, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld Pitman’s order. But in a twist, the court vacated the three-judge panel’s decision on July 3, with the case now set to be reheard en banc by the court on September 23.