Kristy Shinn v. Pennsylvania School Boards Association

CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 23, 2026
Docket1:23-cv-02097
StatusUnknown

This text of Kristy Shinn v. Pennsylvania School Boards Association (Kristy Shinn v. Pennsylvania School Boards Association) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kristy Shinn v. Pennsylvania School Boards Association, (M.D. Pa. 2026).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA KRISTY SHINN, : CIVIL NO. 1:23-cv-02097 : Plaintiff, : (Magistrate Judge Schwab) : v. : : PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL : BOARDS ASSOCIATION, : : Defendant. :

MEMORANDUM OPINION I. Introduction. Kristy Shinn (“Shinn”) brings claims against her former employer, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (“PSBA”), pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (“PHRA”). In her initial complaint, Shinn brought hostile-work-environment and retaliation claims. The PSBA filed a motion to dismiss the complaint (“first motion to dismiss”), which we granted in part. Specifically, we concluded that Shinn had not included sufficient factual allegations in her complaint to carry a hostile work environment claim, so we dismissed that claim. We also granted Shinn leave to file an amended complaint as to her hostile work environment claim. Shinn filed an amended complaint with minimal amendments—notably, she changed her hostile work environment claims to claims for sex discrimination. The PSBA filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint (“pending motion to dismiss”). We will grant the pending motion to

dismiss in part because, as described further herein, we find that Shinn fails to state a claim for sex discrimination. Because Shinn’s retaliation claim still states a claim, as we previously explained in our opinion on the first motion to dismiss, we

will deny the motion to dismiss in all other respects.

II. Background and Procedural History. A. Procedural History.1

On July 3, 2025, we issued an order granting in part and denying in part the first motion to dismiss and a memorandum opinion explaining our decision (“Opinion on the First Motion to Dismiss”). Docs. 30, 31. We granted the first

motion to dismiss insofar as it sought dismissal of Shinn’s hostile-work- environment claims and denied it insofar as it sought dismissal of Shinn’s retaliation claims. Id. In our Opinion on the First Motion to Dismiss, we wrote: Here, in light of this liberal amendment standard, we will grant Shinn leave to amend her complaint as to her hostile-work- environment claims. If Shinn has additional allegations about her workplace conditions that she believes rise to this level, she should include them in an amended complaint.

1 Because we previously summarized the procedural history of this case up to the point at which we resolved the first motion to dismiss, we will summarize only the procedural history since that date. For a more robust procedural history, refer to our opinion on the first motion to dismiss (doc. 30 at 2–3). Doc. 30 at 23–24. Thus, Shinn’s retaliation claims survived the first motion to dismiss, her hostile-work-environment claims did not, and Shinn could file an amended complaint to amend her hostile-work-environment claims to attempt to

state a claim. See generally id. On July 23, 2025, Shinn filed an amended complaint. Doc. 33. The amended complaint is nearly identical to the initial complaint, with only the following relevant2 changes:

(1) In the introduction section of the amended complaint, Shinn states that she “contends that [the PSBA] subjected her to discrimination due to her gender and sex, and retaliated against her[,]” whereas in the introduction section of the initial complaint Shinn stated that she “contends that [the PSBA] subjected her to a hostile work environment due to sexual harassment, failed to take appropriate remedial action to address the sexual harassment, and retaliated against her[.]” Compare doc. 33 ¶ 2 with doc. 1 ¶ 2.

(2) In the amended complaint, Shinn states, “By way of background, Plaintiff is a biological female and identifies as the same.” Doc. 33 ¶ 16. In the initial complaint Shinn did not state same. See generally doc. 1.

(3) Count I and Count III in the amended complaint are brought for “gender and sex discrimination” under Title VII and the PHRA, respectively. Doc. 33 at 17, 19. In the initial complaint, however, Count I and Count III bring hostile-work- environment claims under Title VII and the PHRA, respectively. Doc. 1 at 17, 20. The conclusory allegations

2 Shinn also updated the jurisdiction section of her amended complaint as compared to her initial complaint. Compare doc. 33 with doc. 1. Our jurisdiction is not in dispute, however, so we will not summarize those alterations. setting forth the elements for each cause of action thus also differ between the initial complaint and the amended complaint.

On August 5, 2025, the PHRA filed the pending motion to dismiss the amended complaint, and on August 6, 2025, it filed a brief in support thereof. Docs. 34, 35. After being granted an extension of time to do so, Shinn filed a brief in opposition. Docs. 38, 40. The PHRA filed a reply brief on September 15, 2025. Doc. 41. Thus, this motion is ripe for our consideration.

B. Allegations in the Amended Complaint. Shinn, a cisgender woman, began as “a Senior Manager of Professional Development” at the PSBA on September 7, 2022. Doc. 33 ¶¶ 16, 17. Shinn’s

direct supervisor was William Smeltzer (“Smeltzer”), a white male and the Director of Professional Development. Id. ¶ 18. On September 8, 2022, when Shinn “dropped off her new hire paperwork with Dara Burke” (“Burke”), a white female and the Associate Director of Employee Engagement, Shinn confirmed that

“although she is white-presenting, [she] identifies as Hispanic.” Id. ¶¶ 21, 22. Shinn alleges that Smeltzer engaged in inappropriate behavior toward her nearly from the beginning of her employment at the PSBA. Shinn describes the

following allegedly discriminatory and/or harassing interactions: (1) During a one-on-one meeting in Smeltzer’s office with the door shut, Smeltzer told Shinn about his and his wife’s decision not to circumcise their baby boy who was recently born. Id. ¶¶ 23–28.

(2) Smeltzer told Shinn “that they should be friends” and invited Shinn to get a beer, an invitation that Shinn declined because “they have a working relationship and not a friendship.” Id. ¶¶ 29–32.

(3) During a meeting between Shinn, Smeltzer, and Nathalia Griffith (“Nathalia”)3, a black female and the E-Learning Manager at the PSBA, Smeltzer criticized Nathalia and Shinn’s work product, including stating that “there aren’t enough white men in some of the stuff we push out and it makes me uncomfortable.” Id. ¶¶ 33, 34.

(4) Smeltzer allegedly treated Shinn and a woman with the same role and responsibilities (Cytha Guynes, “Guynes”) differently by looking at Guynes when speaking to both of them, inviting Guynes to do member trainings instead of Shinn, speaking to Shinn in a different tone, requiring Shinn to work more hours than Guynes, and disapproving Shinn’s flex time requests more often than he disapproved Guynes’s requests. Id. ¶¶ 35–41.

(5) On one occasion when Smeltzer was using Shinn’s graphing calculator for work purposes, Smeltzer and Shinn began discussing children texting on graphing calculators during class, and Smeltzer said “80085[,]” the number sequence “used by children to spell out ‘boobs.’” Id. ¶¶ 42–46.

(6) During another closed-door one-on-one meeting with Shinn, Smeltzer informed Shinn he would be out of the office for a vasectomy. Id. ¶¶ 48–50.

3 Below, we will introduce Christina Griffiths (“Christina”), the PSBA’s Chief Operating Officer. We mean no disrespect to Nathalia Griffith and Christina Griffiths by using their first names in this opinion; we simply intend to differentiate between two individuals with similar last names who are both involved in Shinn’s allegations.

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Bluebook (online)
Kristy Shinn v. Pennsylvania School Boards Association, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kristy-shinn-v-pennsylvania-school-boards-association-pamd-2026.