Coach sues Folsom Cordova school district for defamation after pedophilia allegations

A track coach is suing the Folsom Cordova Unified School District and a district employee for defamation, alleging that he lost a job because of false claims accusing him of pedophilia and improper contact with student-athletes.

Joshua Gruver, 30, filed a civil complaint in Sacramento Superior Court in November alleging that his termination from a coaching position at St. Francis High School in Sacramento in March 2022 was a direct result of fraudulent text messages asserting that Gruver was a pedophile, that he was prevented from coaching at Cordova High School, that he threw parties for student-athletes, and that his accomplishments were lies, according to court documents.

Cordova High School is part of the Folsom Cordova district; St. Francis is an all-girls Catholic school in East Sacramento.

Gruver alleges in the complaint that when he took over the Cordova cross-country team, he grew and improved the team by 2019 and afterward built the nonprofit Rancho Cordova Track Club with the city of Rancho Cordova. He alleges that the success of this organization bred negative statements about him “based primarily on professional jealousy” from Teal LeBaron, head of the physical education department at Cordova. LeBaron is the individual named in the suit.

“These baseless accusations arose solely as a result of professional jealousy on the part of (LeBaron) and other members of the Athletic Department at Cordova High School,” according to Gruver’s complaint, which was filed by his attorney, James McGlamery.

“(The) plaintiff had never been charged, or accused of any type of crime prior to the events that are the subject of this claim,” the lawsuit says.

The original complaint introduces Gruver as an employee at Cordova, fulfilling athletic and security duties, and claims that the text messages were sent by LeBaron to her sister, and the texts were subsequently forwarded to multiple parents of female student-athletes on the St. Francis track team.

“Hey I know this doesn’t directly (affect) Ashlyn, but just FYI,” the text reads in Gruver’s complaint. “The new Cross-Country/Track Coach - Josh (Gruver) is a pedophile. He can’t coach here anymore now he is at an all girls school (emoji) he throws parties for young kids all his accomplishments are lies (emoji) just make sure if Ashlyn has any cross-country/track friends they know to stay away from him.”

The school district does not dispute Gruver’s claims in court documents, writing instead that the claims were made by individuals who believed them to be true.

Tina Tedesco, a spokeswoman for St. Francis, confirmed that Gruver’s last day of employment at the high school was March 28, 2022, which coincides with court documents, but she said she was not at liberty to say the reason Gruver was dismissed.

According to the track club’s website, Gruver coached cross-country and track and field at Cordova for seven years and holds a bachelor’s degree in recreation, parks and tourism administration, which he earned from Sacramento State in 2022.

The Folsom Cordova district confirmed that Gruver is an employee and said he currently serves as an in-school suspension assistant at Cordova High.

The document claims that Gruver filed an internal complaint at Cordova in May 2022 to which the principal, Jerad Hyden, replied that he empathized with Gruver, the incident had been investigated, and “appropriate disciplinary action had been taken” against LeBaron. The document said LeBaron was placed on one-week administrative leave before returning to campus.

Angela Griffin Ankhelyi, a spokeswoman for the school district, declined The Bee’s requests for interviews with Hyden and LeBaron, citing legal constraints.

“We cannot disclose personnel information that would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy, nor can we disclose information pertaining to pending litigation,” she said.

McGlamery, Gruver’s attorney, said that his office has started the discovery phase of the case.

Gruver declined to comment. LeBaron, who could not be reached, has not responded to the suit in court.

District says Gruver’s statements are ‘true and correct’

Gruver said in the complaint he is suing the district because it is liable for wrongful acts committed by its employees acting within the scope of their employment. LeBaron, according to the documents, sent the text messages during school hours.

Upon filing its defense on Feb. 7, the district alleged that all statements set forth in Gruver’s original complaint “are true and correct in all particulars and details.” However, it claims that any statements supporting claims of defamation or intentional infliction of emotional distress were not made with hatred or ill will because the persons making them believed them to be true, and they were made to persons with mutual interests in the information.

The district said in its defense that LeBaron, who allegedly made the statements, did not do so in conjunction with her job responsibilities within the district, therefore the school district, as an entity, cannot be liable.

Gruver has had one run-in with law enforcement since losing his job at St. Francis.

On Nov. 10, Gruver was sentenced to nearly a month in Sacramento County Main Jail in connection with a DUI conviction.

Gruver elected jail time in lieu of a fine and was required to enroll in a DUI program by Feb. 17.