The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Monday that a student’s defamation lawsuit against her former school and principal over cheating allegations can move forward, reversing a District Court dismissal of the case.
Last year, Rebecca Hamson and her mother, Kimberly Hamson, sued the Foothills Christian Academy Society of Backus, Minn., and its principal and pastor, Blair Ecker. The conflict arose after Hamson was accused of cheating in 2022 and Ecker made a series of statements about the girl to staff and students, but the lawsuit also includes allegations by another student of being sexually assaulted by Ecker inside the private religious school, which closed last month.
Ed Shaw, the lawyer representing the Hamson family, said they were happy the Court of Appeals reversed the District Court decision but there is now a concern that “there was more sinister behavior happening, too.”
Backus, population 262, is 40 miles north of Brainerd.
“There’s your small-town America, right there,” Shaw said. “Everybody knows everybody in that school community.”
He said that while his client is not bringing an abuse case, there was “a serious lack of oversight of teaching staff there.”
“The school has closed down now,” Shaw said. “One could draw their own conclusions on that.”
Jeremy Klinger, the attorney representing the school and Ecker, said he would not comment on any questions about the case or the school.