Employment attorney gives insight into process for superintendent Dr. Joris Ray review

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Thursday marks the first full day of paid leave for Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Dr. Joris Ray as outside counsel digs into allegations of extra marital affairs with district employees.

Former U.S. Attorney Edward Stanton, III has been tapped to lead the MSCS review.

Stanton is no stranger to leading these types of reviews since he left the U.S. Attorney’s office in 2017.

Stanton, now in private practice with Butler and Snow law firm, was asked to lead a team of investigators after accusations of grade changing surfaced at Trezevant High School.

Stanton also led a court-appointed team set up to monitor the Memphis Police Department after federal court found violations of portions of a 40-year-old consent decree.

Now the MSCS school board is looking for Stanton to gather information regarding their top educator, Dr. Joris Ray, accused by his estranged wife in court divorce documents of participating in an affair with at least one MSCS employee.

Memphis employment attorney Alan Crone has investigated his fair share of company reviews.

He says the public can expect the process to take weeks.

“The way I would approach it is the first thing you want to do is get a hold of all the documents and in 2022 that means emails, text messages inner office memos between everyone involved in this thing,” Crone said.

Crone says Stanton will likely have full access to just about everything for his review including interviewing district employees.

Once Stanton completes his review, he will turn his findings over to Legal counsel Herman Morris Jr., who will then advise the board on actions.

Deputy Superintendents Dr. John Baker and Dr. Angela Whitelaw will lead the district during Ray’s leave.

Copyright 2022 WMC. All rights reserved.

Click here to sign up for our newsletter!

Click here to report a spelling or grammar error. Please include the headline.