Former Memphis-Shelby County School Superintendent Marie Feagins faces allegations that she exposed herself to her special assistant in a federal employment discrimination lawsuit filed on Thursday, Oct. 29.
Feagins’ former assistant, Camalyn Turner, filed a lawsuit against MSCS with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that accuses Feagins of creating a “hostile and abusive” workplace.
Turner, who resigned in 2024, is seeking $1.5 million in damages from the MSCS. Feagins is not named as a defendant. The former administrator is currently waging two lawsuits against the school system for wrongful termination.
Feagins was fired on January 21, 2025 by the MSCS board with a 6-3 vote. Members opted for her removal after an outside investigation found numerous instances of employment contract and board policy violations. The former Detroit Public Schools employee was hired on April 1, 2024.
Allegations of inappropriate conduct surfaced in the summer of 2025 in a Feagins lawsuit. MSCS attorneys questioned Feagins about the matter in a deposition. She denied the allegations. Prior to Feagins’ firing, Turner filed a claim with the EEOC on Jan. 20, 2025. The Memphis Commercial Appeal first broke the news of the lawsuit. The report included complaints of a “toxic and unethical work environment, marked by harassment by Dr. Feagins.” MSCS investigated the matter.
According to the suit, Turner initially stayed with Feagins while searching for an apartment, after she relocated to Memphis for her job in 2024. When called downstairs to join a discussion with a school board member, Feagins was standing bare naked at the foot of the stairs “waiting for her.”
The identity of the board member, or if the conversation was in-person or by phone was not detailed in the lawsuit.
Turner alleges she was reassigned the next day, along with a reduced salary. She also claims that a back-to-school event went $50,000 over budget the prior week. Feagins blamed her for the cost overrun after the nonconsensual advance. A reprimand followed after Turner failed to pay “unsubstantiated” claims associated with the event, according to the suit.
In another alleged incident, Turner was asked to remain in a room as Feagins changed clothes for a basketball event. When Turner turned away, Feagins allegedly said, “I don’t know why you are acting like you haven’t seen a naked woman before.”
Turner resigned later that October. She was employed by the MSCS for four months. She was allegedly offered a raise to stay. Turner says she did not report the allegations while employed out of fear of further reprisals.
“On October 15, 2024, Plaintiff received yet another calendar invitation to meet with Dr. Feagins to discuss ‘shifts’ in the Office of the Superintendent. Having been exposed to the Superintendent’s nudity twice, demoted the day after the first exposure, publicly humiliated, falsely accused of financial misconduct, excluded from her own job, and threatened repeatedly with write-ups and transfer, Plaintiff reasonably concluded that further retaliation was imminent and that no reasonable person could continue to work under those conditions. Plaintiff resigned.” read the lawsuit.
In her deposition, Feagins denied claims by attorneys that she created a hostile work environment as retaliation for being “rebuffed.”
“The question that you’re asking me, the answer is absolutely no,” Feagins responded.
MSCS officials have not commented on the lawsuit. Feagins hasn’t responded to media inquiries either.
