LORENA, Texas — The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court’s decision denying former Lorena ISD employee April Jewell’s request to dismiss a civil lawsuit filed against her , the school district announced Thursday.

Jewell had argued the claims should be thrown out under the qualified immunity doctrine, which generally shields school officials from civil liability for actions taken within the scope of their official duties. The court ruled that the lawsuit may continue.

In its statement, Lorena ISD stressed that the appeals court did not hear new evidence or make any rulings on the facts of the case. Instead, the Fifth Circuit was required, as the lower court was, to assume the original claims made by the plaintiffs were true solely for the purpose of deciding whether

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