Susan McKenna v. Killeen Independent School District

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS WACO DIVISION

SUSAN MCKENNA, § Plaintiff, § § v. § NO. 6:23-CV-00703-ADA-DNM § KILLEEN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL § DISTRICT, § Defendant. §

ORDER ADOPTING MAGISTRATE JUDGE’S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Before the Court is the Report and Recommendation of United States Magistrate Judge Dan N. MacLemore regarding Defendant Kileen Independent School District’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. No. 15). Dkt. No. 26. The report recommends that Defendant’s Motion be denied. The Report and Recommendation was filed on July 29, 2026. This Court hereby adopts Judge MacLemore’s Recommendations. A party may file specific, written objections to the proposed findings and recommendations of the magistrate judge within fourteen days after being served with a copy of the report and recommendation, thereby securing de novo review by the district court. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b); Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b). A district court need not consider “[f]rivolous, conclusive, or general objections.” Battle v. U.S. Parole Comm’n, 834 F.2d 419, 421 (5th Cir. 1987) (quoting Nettles v. Wainwright, 677 F.2d 404, 410 n.8 (5th Cir. 1982) (en banc), overruled on other grounds by Douglass v. United States Auto. Ass’n, 79 F.3d 1415 (5th Cir. 1996)). Defendant filed objections to the Report and Recommendation on August 12, 2026, and also submitted two video exhibits to the Court. See Dkt. Nos. 28, 28-2, 28-3. Plaintiff filed a response to Defendant’s objections, and asked the Court to permit Plaintiff’s withdrawal of deemed admission to RFA No. 20, and either decline to consider the newly tendered videos or receive them with a response to follow. Dkt. No. 30. The Court has conducted a de novo review of the Report and Recommendation, the objections to the Report and Recommendation, Plaintiff's response, the record of this case, and the applicable laws. After that thorough review, the Court is persuaded that the Magistrate Judge’s findings and recommendation should be adopted and Defendant’s objections should be overruled. The Court will permit Defendant to submit the video exhibits and for Plaintiff to respond, and will permit Plaintiff move to withdraw the deemed admission to RFA No. 20. At this stage, the Court finds that there are still genuine disputes of material fact remaining as to whether KISD knew of the extent of McKenna’s disability, whether she could perform her job functions with reasonable accommodations, and whether the offered accommodations were adequate or burdensome. See Dkt. No. 26 at 13. The Court also agrees that there are genuine disputes of material fact supported by evidence in the record as to McKenna’s failure-to-accommodate and retaliation claims, as well as whether she was constructively discharged. See id. The Court therefore finds that Judge MacLemore’s Report and Recommendation should be adopted and that Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. No. 15) should be denied. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the Report and Recommendation of United States Magistrate Judge Dan N. MacLemore, is ADOPTED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. No. 15) is DENIED. SIGNED on August 27, 2026. C222. Q\'e ALAN D ALBRIGHT ' UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE