Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Bullard Coach Files Defamation Claim Against Trustee in Racial Slur Allegation
NANCY WEBSITE HEADSHOT 1
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 3 years ago on
June 13, 2022

Share

 

Bullard High football Coach Don Arax has filed a claim for damages in excess of $10,000 against Fresno Unified School District, saying that Trustee Keshia Thomas defamed him when she accused him of using racial slurs to students, including her son.

The claim has been added to this week’s Fresno Unified School Board agenda. As is typical for claims filed with the district, the administration is recommending that the claim be denied and referred to the district’s executive director of benefits and risk management for “further handling.”

Thomas said Monday she had not yet seen the claim and could not immediately comment.

Arax said Thomas’ claim that he used a racial slur toward her middle son, which she made on GV Wire’s “Unfiltered” last month, was untrue and slanderous. That son never attended Bullard, and “Don Arax never called him (or anyone) the ‘n’ word,” the claim said.

Also untrue, the claim said, was Thomas’ allegation in a letter to Bullard principal Armen Torigian that Arax then subsequently tried to interact with her younger son at the school. In the letter, she references “the way Mr. Arax refers to black boys.”

The claim said that Thomas, who represents the Edison region, had initially accused unnamed Bullard staffers of using racial slurs and expressing racism and hatred toward Black students at a Bullard High staff meeting on May 6.

On that day, students from Bullard and Edison walked out of classes in protest of a photo posted on social media of a Bullard student in the school’s weight room wearing a white head covering that for many people resembled a KKK hood.

‘Immediate’ Discipline Sought

The photo created a firestorm of controversy and protests, including calls for the students involved to be expelled and staff to be disciplined for their failure to supervise the students.

The district conducted its own investigation of the incident. Although the outcome was never publicly released, community members said they believed the teens involved were being railroaded into expulsions. The district then commissioned an outside investigator to conduct a second investigation.

The claim, filed by Arax’s attorney Brian Whelan, alleges that Thomas has animus toward members of Arax’s family that intensified after his brother, Mark Arax, made a presentation to the board in 2021 in support of renaming Forkner Elementary School after H. Roger Tatarian, a veteran newsman and one of the city’s most prominent Armenian-Americans.

Mark Arax’s presentation included information that J.C. Forkner, the school’s namesake who was a leading developer in Fresno, was a racist who sold homes on the now-illegal covenant that people of color, including Armenians, be barred from purchasing them.

The board subsequently voted to take Forkner’s name off the school and replace it with Tatarian’s.

In a video entitled “Social Justice School Board Fails Social Justice Exam,” “Ms. Thomas can be seen responding with contempt and ridicule — with an obvious anti-Armenian subtext,” Don Arax’s claim alleges.

 

Arax Claim

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Authorities Seek Help Finding Relatives of Deceased Fresno Man

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Felecia Johnson

DON'T MISS

How in the World Did Fresno End Up on Trump’s Sanctuary Cities List?

DON'T MISS

X Marks the Spot: Bruised Musk Says His Young Son Punched Him

DON'T MISS

PBS Suing Trump Administration Over Defunding, Three Days After NPR Filed Similar Case

DON'T MISS

Loretta Swit, Emmy-winner Who Played Houlihan on Pioneering TV Series ‘M.A.S.H.,’ Has Died at 87

DON'T MISS

San Francisco 49ers Acquire Eagles Edge Rusher Bryce Huff, AP Source Says

DON'T MISS

California Lawmaker Won’t Be Charged After Citation for Suspicion of Impaired Driving

DON'T MISS

California School Awards Dinner at Disneyland Comes With Hefty Price Tag

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Release Video of Officer-Involved Shooting

UP NEXT

California School Awards Dinner at Disneyland Comes With Hefty Price Tag

UP NEXT

1 in 4 US Children Have Parents With Substance Use Disorder, Study Finds

UP NEXT

Dozens Sickened in Expanding Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Recalled Cucumbers

UP NEXT

Fresno Unified Communications Boss on Leave After AI-Generated FTA Dossier Debacle

UP NEXT

Visalia Teen Takes Second Place in Dramatic Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals

UP NEXT

How Trump’s Vow to Revoke Chinese Student Visas Could Hurt California

UP NEXT

Speaker Johnson Raises Campaign Money in Fresno

UP NEXT

California’s War Over Charter Schools Rages On in Court

UP NEXT

Business Insider Cuts 21% of Workforce, Memo Shows

UP NEXT

Trump Gives Harvard 30 Days to Contest End of International Student Enrollment

Nancy Price,
Multimedia Journalist
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email

X Marks the Spot: Bruised Musk Says His Young Son Punched Him

14 hours ago

PBS Suing Trump Administration Over Defunding, Three Days After NPR Filed Similar Case

15 hours ago

Loretta Swit, Emmy-winner Who Played Houlihan on Pioneering TV Series ‘M.A.S.H.,’ Has Died at 87

15 hours ago

San Francisco 49ers Acquire Eagles Edge Rusher Bryce Huff, AP Source Says

16 hours ago

California Lawmaker Won’t Be Charged After Citation for Suspicion of Impaired Driving

16 hours ago

California School Awards Dinner at Disneyland Comes With Hefty Price Tag

17 hours ago

Fresno Police Release Video of Officer-Involved Shooting

17 hours ago

Hamas Says It Is Still Reviewing a US Proposal for a Gaza Ceasefire

17 hours ago

1 in 4 US Children Have Parents With Substance Use Disorder, Study Finds

18 hours ago

Oreo Maker Mondelez Sues Aldi, Alleging Grocery Chain Copies Its Packaging to Confuse Customers

18 hours ago

Authorities Seek Help Finding Relatives of Deceased Fresno Man

The Fresno County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office is asking for the public’s help in locating family members of a Fresno man who died last month. F...

13 hours ago

The Fresno County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office is seeking the public’s help to locate the family of Felipe Pech, 68, of Fresno, who died on April 23, 2025. (Fresno County SO)
13 hours ago

Authorities Seek Help Finding Relatives of Deceased Fresno Man

Felecia Johnson is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for May 30, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
13 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Felecia Johnson

14 hours ago

How in the World Did Fresno End Up on Trump’s Sanctuary Cities List?

14 hours ago

X Marks the Spot: Bruised Musk Says His Young Son Punched Him

15 hours ago

PBS Suing Trump Administration Over Defunding, Three Days After NPR Filed Similar Case

15 hours ago

Loretta Swit, Emmy-winner Who Played Houlihan on Pioneering TV Series ‘M.A.S.H.,’ Has Died at 87

16 hours ago

San Francisco 49ers Acquire Eagles Edge Rusher Bryce Huff, AP Source Says

16 hours ago

California Lawmaker Won’t Be Charged After Citation for Suspicion of Impaired Driving

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend