Judge sets settlement, trial dates in librarian’s wrongful termination suit
Former Kingsland librarian Suzette Baker (second from right) received the first-ever Champion of Writers Award from the Authors Guild Foundation along with three other recipients in May 2024. Baker filed a civil lawsuit against Llano County for wrongful termination. Photo courtesy of Authors Guild Foundation/Beowulf Sheehan
Parties in a wrongful termination lawsuit brought against Llano County by a former librarian have until Oct. 25 to file settlement offers, according to a scheduling order signed by U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman. He also set a jury trial date of Nov. 3, 2025, if no settlement is reached.
The civil suit of Suzette Baker v. Llano County et al. is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Western Division of Texas, Austin Division.
Baker, the former head librarian of the Kingsland Branch Library, was fired on March 9, 2022, for the cited reasons of “insubordination and failure to follow instructions.” Baker disagreed with Llano County officials’ decision to remove 77 books from library shelves and switch eBook services from Libby to Bibliotheca. She also was told to take down a banned books display during Banned Books Week.
Baker first filed a wrongful termination complaint on Sept. 16, 2022, with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That complaint remains under investigation. She filed the civil suit on March 4 of this year.
Settlement offers between the plaintiff and defendant in the civil case were first exchanged on Sept. 13. The offers are private. The two parties have until Oct. 11 to counter each in writing. They must be decided by the Oct. 25 deadline. The parties also must agree—or not—by that deadline to have a magistrate judge oversee parts of the case.
“Jury selection may be conducted by a United States Magistrate Judge the Friday before the case is set for trial,” Judge Pitman wrote in his order.
Other dates set in the recent scheduling order include:
- March 14 and April 18, 2025, for filing a list of testifying experts;
- June 27, 2025, for completing discovery;
- and Aug. 1, 2025, for dispositive motions.
Baker’s lawsuit seeks back pay, attorney’s fees, and an injunction ordering Llano County to stop any behavior that suppresses First Amendment rights or discriminates against minorities. Several of the 17 books removed from the libraries for the cited reason of “pornographic material” involved LGBTQ+ and racial discrimination issues.
Llano County is involved in another lawsuit filed by residents and library system users over the removal of those books.