CHEYENNE – Kappa Kappa Gamma claims plaintiffs are dragging their feet in a pending high-profile federal lawsuit, so they’re asking a federal judge to impose a 21-day deadline on filing of an amended complaint.
Two years ago, six sorority sisters at the University of Wyoming filed a lawsuit against their parent organization, KKG, after Artemis Langford, a transgender woman, was admitted to the Laramie chapter.
However, Wyoming U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice in August 2023, giving the plaintiffs an option to amend their complaint. Instead, the sorority sisters appealed their case to the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which was also unsuccessful.
When she dismissed the case in June, 10th Circuit Judge Carolyn B. McHugh said the case was not appealable without a final order from Johnson. In her dismissal, McHugh gave the plaintiffs two options: stand on their existing complaint and seek final decision from the Wyoming judge, or amend their complaint and continue their case at the federal district court level.
However, eight months after McHugh’s decision, the plaintiffs have still not pursued either option.
During two status conferences in January, Johnson asked the plaintiffs’ attorneys if they planned to amend their complaint. The legal counsel gave no definitive answer to the court, according to WyoFile.com.
On Feb. 28, KKG filed a motion, asking the court to grant a 21-day deadline for the plaintiffs to submit an amended complaint. If the complaint is not submitted in that timeframe, KKG asks in the motion for Johnson to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning the case can’t be refiled.
Ohio case complicates things
In January 2024, another lawsuit was filed against KKG by sorority alumnae Patsy Levang and Cheryl Tuck-Smith in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. The lawsuit also claims KKG violated its own bylaws by admitting Langford into the UW sorority chapter. It was determined by U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson to be “duplicative” of the case in Wyoming.
The Ohio federal judge moved to transfer the case to Wyoming under the “first-to-file” rule. Watson wrote his court lacked jurisdiction to oversee the case because a duplicative lawsuit was already filed in Wyoming federal court.
However, this order is currently being challenged in the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Levang and Tuck-Smith cannot appeal Watson’s order, so they filed a petition for writ of mandamus to the 6th Circuit, asking if it was proper for the Ohio court to transfer the case to Wyoming.
All the parties in both cases are waiting to see if the court will consider the petition, said Natalie McLaughlin, one of KKG’s defense attorneys. McLaughlin told Johnson during a status conference Monday morning that she did not believe the 6th Circuit has jurisdiction to consider the petition in the Levang case, since it currently sits in Wyoming district court.
In its motion for the 21-day deadline, KKG questioned if the sorority sisters “are strategically delaying” the filing of their amended complaint.
“(T)his attempted manipulation of the litigation process to avoid the effect of an unfavorable court order on the merits is offensive to justice,” KKG’s motion states. “Indeed, the Ohio court expressed its concerns about forum shopping in the transfer order.”
Watson alluded to this concern in his transfer of the Levang case.
“Six months have passed since the 10th Circuit instructed the Westenbroek plaintiffs to either amend their complaint or move for a dismissal without prejudice. They have not done so. Why not?” Watson wrote.
“A plaintiff in the Westenbroek plaintiffs’ shoes might respond to that question with one of their own: why would we proceed in a forum that dismissed our claim already when instead we can wait and see whether the Southern District of Ohio will be more receptive?”
KKG argued the plaintiffs should not be permitted “to hold this case in limbo.” The sorority organization claims the plaintiffs are taking advantage of not having to file their amended complaint by a certain deadline, according to court documents.
“Ultimately, whether Plaintiffs here are strategically delaying the filing of a Second Amended Complaint or not is immaterial to the importance of finalizing the decision in this case for Kappa, all of its shareholders, and all defendants,” the motion states.
In response to KKG’s argument that the plaintiffs are “strategically delaying” the filing of their second complaint, legal counsel for the sorority sisters stated that the plaintiffs “have much to consider when deciding whether to pursue their claim in this forum at this time,” according to court documents.
The plaintiffs claimed there are jurisdictional issues with the case, since Langford has not been determined to be a Wyoming resident and KKG headquarters are in Dublin, Ohio. They also said they’re still waiting on a response from the 6th Circuit about the Levang case.
“Plaintiffs are under no obligation to resolve these questions now. There is certainly no extraordinary reason to demand they do so,” the response states.
Motion to dismiss Langford from case
Attorney Rachel Berkness also filed a separate motion to dismiss Langford from the case with prejudice. Berkness stated that her client “has been vilified in media coverage viewed tens of millions of times,” according to court documents.
Less than a week after Johnson dismissed the six sorority sisters’ lawsuit without prejudice, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk encouraged the plaintiffs to “bully this freak” during his discussion of the case on “The Charlie Kirk Show.”
“Just make fun of them. Say ‘You’re not welcome here. You’re not welcome in our sorority. Go away. Go away,’” Kirk said.
Kirk will be at UW on April 24 to speak at a rally organized by the UW chapter of Turning Point USA.
Berkness attached 67 exhibits to the motion to permanently dismiss Langford from the case, including examples of comments from the internet that she said included hate speech and threats directed at her client. Noting that the social media posts had been viewed more than 25 million times, Berkness argued Langford has suffered extreme distress and prejudice since the case was filed in April 2023.
“Ms. Langford has already faced two protests on campus,” Berkness wrote. A Colorado-based anti-transgender group, Rocky Mountain Women’s Network, left hand-painted rocks on the UW campus and wrote “humiliating chalk messages with Ms. Langford’s name on the sidewalks” outside the sorority house, according to court documents.
In October, anti-transgender activist Riley Gaines spoke at an event on the UW campus, attended by more than 600 people, and was joined by the plaintiffs, Cowboy State Daily reported.
“This case continues to haunt her,” Berkness said of Langford during a virtual status conference Monday morning.
Another status conference is scheduled for May 23 in Johnson’s courtroom.
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