Lawsuit Alleges Kalispell Schools Retaliated Against Parent, Wrestler Who Reported Sexual Assault
A lawsuit filed by a former Kalispell wrestler and his father claims school officials took retaliatory actions after the duo reported a pattern of sexual assault on the wrestling team. The district says the father interfered with an ongoing investigation and engaged in “belligerent behavior.”
By Denali Sagner
A former Glacier High School wrestler and his father are suing the Kalispell Public Schools (KPS) after district officials allegedly retaliated against the two individuals for reporting instances of sexual assault on the high school’s wrestling team.
Plaintiffs Kirk Nance and his son Clifford Nance filed suit against KPS and KPS employees Mark Dennehy, Ross Dankers, Sarah Cole and Garrett Melton on Jan. 7 in federal court in Missoula. Kirk and Clifford Nance are being represented by the Kalispell-based Bliven Law Firm.
In the 22-page complaint, the Nances allege that KPS officials allowed a culture of hazing and sexual assault to develop within the Glacier High School wrestling team through negligent hiring, training and supervision. The father and son allege, too, that after Kirk Nance reported the sexual assault of Kalispell wrestlers to the school district and police department, the district retaliated against both father and son, barring the father from observing his son’s wrestling practices and removing the son from the certain activities and spaces, decreasing the amount and quality of coaching he received and opposing his request to transfer to Flathead High School’s wrestling team.
In a statement on Friday, KPS Superintendent Matt Jensen said, “I am aware of Mr. Nance’s lawsuit and am looking forward to this playing out in an open court. It is clear to me and everyone that has followed this awful situation that the KPS administrative team took immediate and decisive action to hold all involved accountable for their actions. Despite Mr. Nance nor any of his family members being involved, he tried to interfere with our investigation and the regular operations of schools and programs.”
Jensen continued, “Our coaches and administrators had the responsibility and right to hold students accountable for their actions and also had the responsibility and right to hold Mr. Nance accountable for his actions. I fully support the actions taken by our administrators and law enforcement officers, as they responded to his belligerent behavior. We are entrusted with serving and protecting the children of this community and I have no tolerance for this type of disruptive and distracting nonsense.”
The lawsuit marks the continued fallout from alleged hazing and sexual assault on the wrestling team, which was first reported in early 2023.
Per the complaint, Clifford, a homeschool student, joined the Glacier High School wrestling team in 2021, and was soon after warned to “be careful” when he was promoted to varsity. On Jan. 7, 2023, an unrelated minor on the wrestling team, identified as K.B., told Kirk Vance, Clifford’s father, that he had been sexually assaulted by fellow wrestlers while traveling on the bus.
On Jan. 9, 2023, Kirk and K.B.’s mother filed a police report regarding the assault. The day after he filed the police report, the complaint alleges, Kirk was told by KPS employees that practices were closed to parents, and Kirk was escorted out of the wrestling practice area.
Plaintiffs allege that no other parents were barred from attending team practices.
In another incident on Jan. 13, 2023, Kirk and Clifford Vance arrived at a hotel in Missoula where the wrestling team was staying ahead of a competition. When Kirk and Clifford stopped to talk to one of Clifford’s friends on the wrestling team, Dankers, the wrestling coach, allegedly told Kirk to “stop ‘interrogating’ the kids.” Shortly after, when Kirk and Clifford headed through the lobby, Dankers and Melton, the assistant wrestling coach, told Kirk they would be calling the police to file a report against him. When Missoula Police Department officers arrived at the hotel, Kirk was removed from the premises and charged with disorderly conduct.
Dankers then allegedly refused to coach Clifford at the wrestling tournament in Missoula. On Jan. 14, 2023, Dennehy texted Kirk that he was “not allowed on any School District #5 property without prior consent from the Superintendent or designee” and said that Kirk’s “continual interrogation of our students … must stop.”
The complaint characterizes KPS officials’ decision to bar Kirk from wrestling events as retaliation for reporting the sexual assault. Plaintiffs also allege KPS officials retaliated against Clifford by refusing to coach him at practices, barring him from the team bus and refusing to coach him at the Jan. 14, 2023 Missoula tournament.
In late January 2023, Kirk and Clifford filed Title IX complaints with the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.
Title IX is the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school that receives funding from the federal government. The statute requires that a school investigate any claim of sexual violence, harassment or gender-based discrimination through a detailed investigation process.
After filing a Title IX complaint, Clifford initiated a “hardship transfer” request, which would allow him to transfer to Flathead High School’s wrestling team without being subject to a period of ineligibility under the Montana High School Association’s transfer rule. Per the lawsuit, the request was denied after Dennehy wrote in a statement that “for the student there is no reason to transfer. For the parent, there is a reason as he is trespassed from [School District 5] for his behavior as he has threatened both our coach and me.”
Plaintiffs describe the transfer request denial as further retaliation.
The complaint alleges that both Kirk and Clifford Vance suffered damages from the school district’s actions.
Following initial reports of sexual assault and hazing in early January 2023, KPS handed down disciplinary action to three involved wrestlers.
In October 2023, a parent of a Glacier High School wrestler alleged that KPS officials failed to address the sexual assault of her son and permitted a culture of hazing and violence within the wrestling team in a lawsuit separate from the Vances’ lawsuit.