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Attorney for Former School Superintendent Files Motion to Dismiss Kinnan Lawsuit

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BRADENTON – A motion to dismiss a defamation lawsuit from former Manatee High School Football coach Joe Kinnan and his wife, Linda Kinnan, has been filed by legal counsel representing former Superintendent Rick Mills.
 
Rob Robinson of Sarasota's Kirk-Pinkerton, P.A., Mr. Mills' attorney, filed the motion on Friday, March 24. The Manatee School District is expected to file its own motion against Kinnan's lawsuit against the school board, per District Attorney Mitch Teitelbaum, who advised that the district is to request the earliest hearing date possible. "We expect that motion next week," said Teitelbaum.
 
Mills' motion comes after Kinnan filed his first amended complaint to his original lawsuit on March 10. The dismissal came with permission by 12th Circuit Judge Brian Iten to allow Kinnan's legal counsel to make a second attempt with the lawsuit by coming back with an amended complaint.
 
The new dismissal motion states that Kinnan's amended complaint, like the original, has not given a legitimate cause of action. The causes of action claimed by Kinnan include invasion of privacy, defamation, intentional interference with a contractual relationship, malicious prosecution, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy.
 
The motion to dismiss also states that Kinnan's claim of loss of consortium, which blames Mills, "cannot be maintained against Mills personally" if the other counts against the former Superintendent are dismissed.
 
During Mills' tenure as Superintendent of the Manatee School District, a district investigation into MHS baseball coach Dwayne Strong found that Strong was in violation of Florida statute that required him to have proper certification to coach, and had been funneling MHS baseball booster club money into a private baseball program run by him.
 
The investigation, which was conducted by former district investigator Troy Pumphrey, who is also being sued by Kinnan, found that Kinnan knew of Strong not having proper certfication to coach. After the investigation's conclusion, Mills recommended a ten-day suspension for Kinnan. That recommendation was withdrawn after Kinnan retired from the district.
 

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