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A former Noble County athletic director previously charged with theft and official misconduct is now suing members of the school district for allegedly failed to notify him of his Garrity rights—a protection for public employees from self-incrimination during internal investigations.
Nicholas David, who was hired in July 2014 as the athletic director, is accusing his former employer, East Noble School Corporation, and three district members of not providing him due process, resulting in David being coerced to speak without consulting legal counsel or to being able to fully consider his rights.
David was charged and arrested last fall on felony charges for theft between $750 and $50,000 and official misconduct of a public servant.
That case is still pending, with court records listing a pre-trial hearing scheduled for Aug. 19.
According to an official complaint filed in June in Indiana’s Northern District Court, David claimed that district officials, through their investigation into him allegedly stealing money from the district through mileage reimbursements and using company accounts for purchases, failed to notify him of his Garrity rights.
David’s attorney, Erik Weber, declined to offer a statement to The Indiana Lawyer.
Counsel for the East Noble School Corporation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit names East Noble, Chief Finance & Operations Officer Brian Leitch, East Noble High School Principal Kathryn Longenbaugh and Superintendent Teresa Gramaux as defendants.
According to David, he was interrogated by Leitch and Longenbaugh in October 2023 for allegedly falsifying his mileage reimbursement and other unaccounted-for spending, which, the complaint argued, were never addressed in the nine years of his employment before the 2023 investigation.
The complaint claimed the investigation, from the beginning, was conducted with the intent to file findings with the State Board of Accounts and then with law enforcement.
David argued that he was never given a Garrity “Warning” during the three interviews that were conducted by school officials.
These warnings, according to Garrity Rights, inform employees under internal investigation that their answers, no matter the guilt of criminal conduct or self-incriminating statements, will not be used against them in a criminal proceeding.
Last month, an order was issued in David’s criminal case granting a motion to suppress information gained from the interviews conducted by the school district.
In his civil suit, David also argued that East Noble has a lack of policy regarding the tracking of mileage for reimbursement, spending of a Sam’s Club card for concessions and events and the utilization of a “secret account” for the “Activities Department.”
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