The Thiemann Tort Claim

Who Is Filing This Claim

Kendall Thiemann is an Evergreen High School teacher and one of two individuals named as suspects in a Vancouver Police Department referral to the Clark County Prosecutor's Office for felony malicious prosecution under RCW 9.62.010.1. The VPD investigation — documented in Case 2025-017448 — found that a complaint campaign Thiemann helped orchestrate against ESD Chief Operations Officer Jenae Gomes was manufactured, timed to interfere with labor negotiations, and built on misrepresentations to law enforcement.

This tort claim was filed on June 12, 2025 — approximately 90 days before that complaint campaign began in earnest. The VPD's own detective concluded that the complaint campaign appeared designed, in part, to generate additional pressure supporting financial claims like this one. In other words: the two efforts are connected, and the second one was found by police to be illegitimate.

Thiemann's attorney, Alan Harvey, signed this document in his professional capacity. During the VPD investigation, Harvey made contradictory statements to Det. Jay Alie — initially telling the detective he had "only provided forms" before later acknowledging he had "assisted with preparation" of declarations. Det. Alie documented that Harvey "clearly had a significant hand in advising this group." A complaint has since been filed with the Washington State Bar Association regarding Harvey's conduct. Harvey simultaneously represented Thiemann, co-suspect Angie Bunda, and participant Camille Lowman — individuals whose interests were not necessarily aligned.

What the Claim Alleges: The Arizona Backstory

The longest section of the tort claim — and the one most grounded in independently verifiable public records — concerns events that occurred in Gilbert, Arizona in 2006 and 2007, involving Evergreen High School Principal Danny Orrantia before he was employed by ESD.

According to the claim, Orrantia was a band director at Higley High School in 2006 when a student reported to him that Jeremy Calvert, a contract employee under his supervision, had been sending her inappropriate text messages. Calvert subsequently sexually assaulted that student on school grounds on or about November 29, 2006. Gilbert Police Department Report #07-000000131 documents the investigation. Calvert was arrested January 9, 2007, and pleaded guilty to two sex offense counts in 2008 — Maricopa County Superior Court Case CR 2007-101820.

Both the victim and Calvert independently told investigators that Orrantia had been aware of the texts before the assault. On January 8, 2007, when Gilbert PD contacted Orrantia through the school's principal, Orrantia denied any prior knowledge and did not return the detective's call. In the spring of 2007, Orrantia applied for and accepted a position at Evergreen School District.

These are facts documented in Arizona public records. EPSTransparency.org is considering a separate, partial investigation into how this history was handled during the ESD hiring process and whether ESD's response to Thiemann's subsequent disclosures was appropriate — independent of Thiemann's self-serving framing of those events. See the teaser below.

What the Claim Alleges: Retaliation (2023–2025)

The bulk of the tort claim describes a sequence of events from October 2023 through March 2025, in which Thiemann alleges that ESD administrators retaliated against him for raising the Arizona concerns through the union grievance process. These are Thiemann's unverified allegations. Some elements may be corroborated by documentary evidence referenced in the claim; others cannot be evaluated without access to ESD's internal records.

The claim asserts that after Thiemann raised the Arizona history in a Step-1 grievance conference on October 24, 2023, COO Jenae Gomes directed him to appear at the Administrative Services Center on November 2 — without his preferred union representative — and placed him on pre-prepared administrative leave. His devices were seized and searched by ESD's IT Security Manager, who reported finding no evidence connecting Thiemann to any anonymous union emails. Gomes nonetheless issued a written discipline notice on November 9, which was quietly modified on November 17 without explanation.

The claim further alleges that on March 17, 2025, Superintendent Christina Moloney sent an email attacking Thiemann's character and the factual basis of his concerns to the school board, members of the press, and private individuals — without having reviewed the underlying Arizona police reports.

These allegations are presented here because they are part of the public filing. Whether they constitute actionable retaliation, defamation, or discrimination — the three legal theories Thiemann advances — is a matter for the courts, not this page.

Legal Claims Asserted

• Defamation
  Alleges Superintendent Moloney's March 17, 2025 email made false statements about Thiemann to the school board, press, and private individuals. Unverified allegation.
• WLAD
  Alleges violations of the Washington Law Against Discrimination based on a pattern of retaliatory conduct in response to union activities. Unverified allegation.
• Tort of Outrage
  Alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress through a pattern of retaliation, character assassination, and suppression of protected speech. Unverified allegation.