Former Los Alamos schools employee sues district, board, administrators over rights claims

A former Los Alamos Public Schools employee has taken the district, its board and several top administrators into First Judicial District Court, filing a 54-page complaint that accuses LAPS of violating federal leave, disability and whistleblower protections.

Devin Ziegler, who previously worked for the district as assistant coordinator of student services and as a special education inclusion teacher, filed the lawsuit April 27 in Santa Fe County. The complaint names Los Alamos Public Schools, the LAPS School Board, Superintendent Jennifer Guy, Kayoko Nettleton, Mayra Cameron, and Karla Crane as defendants.

The suit asserts claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the New Mexico Human Rights Act and the New Mexico Whistleblower Protection Act. That combination turns the case into more than a routine employment dispute, because it places the district’s handling of leave, accommodations, retaliation concerns and workplace decisions directly at issue.

For taxpayers, the exposure could grow quickly if the claims survive early motions and move into discovery, where internal emails, personnel records and testimony can become public. Los Alamos Public Schools, which says it serves 3,643 students and employed 658 people in 2024, would have to defend its actions across a district that is large enough to absorb legal costs only at the expense of other priorities.

The case also lands in front of a board with five elected members representing five districts in Los Alamos County. The board meets at 5:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday and fourth Thursday of each month, a schedule that could make any public discussion of the litigation more visible to parents, staff and county residents watching district governance closely.

Jennifer Guy, the superintendent, has worked in New Mexico education for 35 years, according to district information. Other district leaders listed on LAPS pages include assistant superintendents J. Carter Payne and Mike Madrid Johnson. The district has also promoted its recent recognition as the 2023 College Board AP District of the Year and the 2025 New Mexico School Boards Association Large District School Board of the Year, accolades that now stand beside allegations that could reshape how the public views its internal culture.

The lawsuit arrives after another discrimination case involving LAPS drew scrutiny from the district, the New Mexico Public Education Department and the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. In that matter, the district denied the claims, and the state court case was later dismissed for failure to participate and prosecute.

For Los Alamos schools, the new filing is likely to test more than legal strategy. It could force a public accounting of how the district supervises employees, handles disability-related requests and responds when staff members raise concerns about workplace treatment.