Memphis City Councilman JB Smiley refutes claims made in fired MSCS Superintendent’s lawsuit

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Memphis City Councilman JB Smiley told Action News 5 the details in the lawsuit filed Monday in Shelby County Circuit Court by former Memphis Shelby County School Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins are lies.

The two-term city councilman said the first-time superintendent’s version of events leading up to her firing is false. He sat down with Action News 5 on Wednesday night to set the record straight.

Smiley said he took Marie Feagins under his wing after she DM’d him on Instagram before she got the job - to introduce herself and ask for help getting to know the town and its leaders. He said he became her most trusted advisor and confidant until, he said, the chaos started.

“I think it’s important to be very candid and transparent for folks who are trying to figure out what’s really going on,” Councilman Smiley told Action News 5, “I didn’t use profanity with her. I didn’t call her names. I didn’t say we’re going to get rid of you.”

Feagins' suit accused Smiley of calling her and shouting: “Don’t you ever file a f***ing police report in the city again without telling me first...my funders are telling me to get rid of you.”

Feagins filed a police report August 8 last year after Peer Power co-chairman Dow McVean confronted her about the cancellation of the mentoring non-profit’s contract with MSCS.

She also requested an order of protection against McVean the following day. But Smiley said Feagins was the one who called him, and she was the one who was doing the shouting.

“I answered my phone…hello? And the next thing I heard out of the superintendent’s mouth was yelling. Extremely high pitched,” he said.

Smiley said Feagins demanded he put her in touch with Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis.

“I said if she’s not answering your calls, she’s probably not going to answer mine,” said Smiley.

He said Dr. Feagins hung up on him. He called back to check a short time later to see how her conversation went with MPD and he said she hung up on him again after expressing her displeasure with the MPD Deputy Chief with whom she spoke.

Smiley said Feagins called him the next day, August 9, screaming at him once more.

“You don’t tell me what to do. You don’t tell me to listen. And at this point I said, you know what? It’s probably best I remove myself from this call,” he said.

Dow McVean also released a statement Wednesday calling Dr. Feagins' claims in her lawsuit “misinformation.”

He admitted to using words that “he regretted” and said he sent an apology letter to Dr. Feagins four days after the incident. He also pointed out that her order of protection against him was denied by the court, and she eventually dropped it in September.

“I did not want the weekend to pass,” wrote McVean, “without taking time to apologize for my language last Thursday. I let my passion for my city, its citizens, and our city’s school kids inadvertently become a distraction to the main goal of helping educate students. For that, I am truly sorry.”

McVean went on to say, “I implore you to review our program with your predecessors at MSCS, the U of Memphis, Johns Hopkins University, as well as the twelve principals in the schools Peer Power was in last year. I look forward to the opportunity to be an asset and an advocate of your stewardship of MSCS in the future.”

McVean said he never heard back from Dr. Feagins.

Councilman Smiley said he was Dr. Feagins special advisor, head of her transition team, and number one cheerleader until what he called “the mess” became too much, especially during a time when he was focusing on family while his father was in hospice.

“I’m very confident that now that I’m speaking my truth,” said Smiley, “there will be other people that speak their truth. Sometimes it takes one person to step up and say enough is enough.”

Councilman Smiley also denied telling Dr. Feagins that those who contributed to his campaign called for her firing.

He told Action News 5 that he and Dow McVean have never met, and McVean never gave any money to his campaign, something McVean also mentioned in his statement to the media.

While Smiley and McVean are named in the lawsuit, they are not among those being sued. Dr. Feagins' lawsuit alleges the school board violated Tennessee’s open meetings law by plotting in secret to fire her. She’s not seeking money. She wants the vote to terminate her reversed, declared void by the court.

The MSCS voted 6 to 3 to terminate her, saying she violated the terms of her contract by accepting a donation without required board approval, misleading the board about unapproved overtime and letting a lucrative grant expire.

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