Former D91 assistant principal sues district, alleges younger, LDS men were hired over her 26 times

IDAHO FALLS — A former school administrator is suing Idaho Falls School District 91, alleging she was discriminated against based on her age, sex, disability and religion.

Jody Immel, a former assistant principal at Skyline High School, held multiple positions at the school district between 2013 and 2024, according to the lawsuit.

Immel is alleging improper reassignment, state and federal workplace discrimination, age discrimination, disability discrimination, FMLA retaliation and violation of procedural due process.

Immel says she filed a complaint with the Idaho Human Rights Commission and received a notice of right to sue on Dec. 9, 2025. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also issued her a notice of right to sue on Jan. 6.

EastIdahoNews.com reached out to Immel’s attorney, Anna Moritz of Cedar Law PLLC in Seattle, who said that the case was “clear.”

“This is a pretty clear case of a district treating an individual, near retirement age, with disabilities, differently than they treated other employees,” Moritz told EastIdahoNews.com.

We also reached out to the district’s attorney, James Stoll with Anderson, Julian & Hull, LLP, who declined to comment.

The allegations

According to the court documents, Immel is a 60-year-old woman and wartime veteran of the United States Air Force, where she served for 24 years. The lawsuit stated that she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and hearing loss, causing her to carry a 70% disabled veteran status.

Immel was reportedly hired by the school district in July 2013 as an assistant principal and held administrator and elementary teacher certificates from Arizona. She later obtained reciprocal certificates from the Idaho Department of Education.

In 2016, Immel’s teaching certificate lapsed, but it was later renewed, and Immel still holds an Idaho administrator certificate.

During the 2020/21 academic year, Immel says she was moved from her position at Skyline to a dual administrative position as advanced programs coordinator and college and career advisor at Emerson High School.

PTSD accommodations

In 2022, Immel reportedly told the district that she needed workplace accommodations for her PTSD, including “advance notice of the content of meetings and the option to have a support person present at meetings with her supervisors.”

According to the lawsuit, all employees are granted the option to have a support person present at meetings with supervisors under the Master Contract for that academic year.

Immel claims she was called in for last-minute meetings multiple times without notice or an agenda after reporting that she needed accommodations. Still, the district never held a meeting to discuss what she required.

Religious, gender and disability discrimination

Immel alleges that the district “engaged in hiring practices that discriminated against (Immel) based on sex, age, and religion.”

Over the course of her career, Immel claims she applied for 26 jobs at the district, which were all ultimately offered to younger men who were all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“(The district) also reassigned (Immel), a female and not a member of the religion held by hiring administrators, despite her strong job performance and qualifications,” says the lawsuit.

One example claims that in spring 2024, the district opened a search for a safety coordinator position. Immel says she was highly qualified and applied for the job, but was not offered an interview.

According to Immel, the district hired a 47-year-old male athletic director who is a Latter-day Saint and had “no relevant work experience.”

The lawsuit states that Immel is a female and a member of a protected class based on sex, as well as that she is not a member of an organized religion, and does not identify as a Latter-day Saint, “although most of her friends and neighbors are members.”

Immel also has protected status based on her age and disabilities.

Improper reassignment?

Also in spring 2024, Immel claims that the district announced that, due to budget issues, certain positions would be eliminated.

Immel says she was not in the scope of the plan for reductions in positions. She also claims that the district did not announce a “Reduction in Force” at that time.

On April 5, 2024, the lawsuit states that Idaho Falls School District Superintendent Karla LaOrange emailed the staff that “any employee who is displaced by budget reductions will have other employment opportunities within the district.”

Between May 10, 2024, and June 13, 2024, Immel says she took Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) due to “exacerbated PTSD symptoms directly resulting from (the district’s) failure to implement (Immel’s) accommodations.”

“On June 26, the district reportedly sent a written notice of reassignment letter to Immel, saying she was being moved from an administrative contract to a teaching contract, because her current position is not an administrative position.”

According to Immel, the new position assignment paid $34,254 less per year (69%) than she made in her previous position, and the letter did not provide a statement of reasons.

Idaho Code 33-515(4) states that “In the event the board of trustees reassigns an administrative employee to a non-administrative position, the board shall give written notice to the employee that contains a statement of reasons for the reassignment. The employee, upon written request to the board, shall be entitled to an informal review of that decision.”

Immel claims the reassignment was due to her being gone from work due to her disability. She was also reportedly unable to legally sign a teaching contract because her certification had lapsed, and she says she was not offered emergency certification.

“Notably, the daily rate of the contract offered to (Immel) through the reassignment was significantly lower than the daily rate of salaried of comparable employees,” says the lawsuit.

Immel says she went to the local board of trustees, who “failed to meaningfully review the reassignment” and “did not even acknowledge (Immel’s) original Advanced Coordinator position in their determination.”

She claims she also “immediately attempted to communicate” with LaOrange about the improper teaching contract, but that LaOrange canceled the meeting scheduled with Immel to discuss it. Immel says the district then “wrongfully characterized” her inability to legally sign the teaching contract as her resignation. Immel says she never resigned.

Immel says she has been unemployed from the district since the beginning of the 2024/2025 school year, resulting in “significant lost wages and benefits.” The lawsuit says Immel has “continually applied” for other positions at District 91 and other local school districts, but has not been able to obtain employment.

Immel also claims that the district did not publicly advertise and post all open employment positions, denying her the ability to apply for the jobs.

According to the Idaho Falls School District Policy 805.0, the process for a Reduction in Force includes prioritizing keeping the employees who have “highly qualified status, certification(s), endorsement(s), leadership roles in the school district, effectiveness in the classroom, as well as eligible veterans’ status.”

The lawsuit claims that Immel “was highly qualified, certificated, held a leadership role, was effective in her work, and held veteran status.”

Immel is asking the court to award her general and special economic damages, interest, liquidated damages, costs, attorneys’ fees, and any further relief the court might grant.

The district’s response

In its answer to the lawsuit, the district has denied any wrongdoing regarding Immel’s discrimination claims.

According to court records, the district claims that some of Immel’s claims are “barred by the applicable status statute of limitations.”

It also claims Immel has failed to comply with the Idaho Tort Claims Act. It does not go into detail about how it believes Immel did not comply.

A status conference has been scheduled for June 24 in the case.