A former Slippery Rock Area School District elementary principal, who is in a legal battle to get her job back, filed a civil suit alleging defamation and other accusations against people involved in the dispute, including the superintendent.

Kristie Shulsky, of Harmony, initiated the suit in March and filed a complaint in July in Butler County Common Pleas Court seeking more than $500,000 in damages against former Butler County Community College president Nick Neupauer; his wife, Tamatha Neupauer, a paraprofessional at Moraine Elementary School; Billie Douglas, a secretary at the school; and Superintendent Alfonso Angelucci as an individual.

Shulsky, who worked 17 years for the district, appealed her January termination as Moraine Elementary School principal by the school board to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Acting Secretary of Education Carrie Rowe ordered the district in July to reinstate her, but the school board voted Monday, Aug. 11, to file an appeal in Commonwealth Court.

In her July complaint, Shulsky claims Douglas started a rumor that she was intoxicated at work on April 24, 2024, and spread the rumor to others, including Tamatha Neupauer. Nick Neupauer was contacted by his wife, Tamatha, who told him Shulsky was intoxicated at work that day. He then contacted solicitor Michael Hnath. Hnath told Angelucci who went to the school to evaluate her condition, according to the complaint.

Rowe deemed the accusations to be unfounded in her July 17 opinion.

Angelucci talked to staff members who told him that Shulsky was not acting differently and was not drinking at work that day before he met with Shulsky and told her what had been reported to him. She became upset, but Angelucci sent her home for the day while he investigated the report, according to the suit.

She volunteered to walk in a straight line, take a field sobriety test and go to a hospital for a drug and alcohol test, but Angelucci said that wasn’t necessary because she did not show signs of impairment or intoxication. He did not call police or ask her to submit to any tests and allowed her to drive home, according to the suit.

In a phone conversation later that day, Angleucci asked Shulsky to return to work the next day and told her the investigation into whether she was intoxicated was concluded.

At work the next day, April 25, Angelucci told Shulsky none of the people he spoke to thought she was intoxicated and he saw no signs of intoxication. She continued working until April 30, when he told he she was being placed on administrative leave based on new information he discovered, according to the suit.

On May 14, Angelucci sent an email to district parents saying Shulsky was involved in a disciplinary process, which led community members to believe she was intoxicated at work on April 24, according to the suit.

She claims the allegations against her have exposed her to public shame and ridicule locally and in the education community. She said she rarely leaves her home, is ashamed to attend her son’s high school events and lost over 60 pounds.

Since her termination, the lawsuit indicates she has applied for 12 education jobs which she is overqualified for, but was interviewed for only three of the jobs.

Her suit makes claims of defamation, false light invasion of privacy and interference with contract against the Neupauers and Douglas; and breach of fiduciary duty against Angelucci.

The Neupauers’ attorney, Jeff Kubay, said the couple denies any wrongdoing alleged in Shulsky’s “frivolous and retaliatory lawsuit against them.”

Angelucci and Douglas could not be reached for comment.