High School Coach Exonerated After Years, $350k In Legal Fees

A defamation lawsuit involving Fresno Unified School District trustee Keshia Thomas has intensified after new statements raised questions about a racial-slur allegation she made against a former Bullard High School football coach.

Thomas is being sued by former Bullard coach and teacher Don Arax, who says she falsely accused him of using the N-word toward her son. The dispute dates back to comments Thomas made during a May 17, 2022, appearance on GV Wire’s “Unfiltered” podcast, where she discussed an alleged incident involving Arax and her son, Albert Alford Jr., in 2013.

Arax filed his defamation lawsuit later in 2022 and has maintained that the accusation was false and seriously damaged his reputation.

The case has now created political and financial consequences for Thomas, who serves on the Fresno Unified School District board and is also campaigning for a seat on the Fresno City Council. The Fresno Teachers Association has called for her resignation from the school board.

“How can we, as a community, trust that what she says is accurate, it’s true?” FTA President Manuel Bonilla told ABC30.

Fresno Unified had been paying legal expenses connected with the lawsuit because Thomas was serving as a district trustee when the dispute arose. According to figures reported by The Fresno Bee, the district had paid $235,330 for its own defense through June 9 and another $134,421 toward Thomas’ defense, bringing the combined amount to nearly $370,000.

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The district has since announced that it will stop paying Thomas’ legal expenses.

“FUSD agreed to help cover trustee Thomas’ legal fees at a time when we had no reason to question her account,” the district said in a statement reported by ABC30.

The district said its position changed after information emerged during the litigation.

“Since then, new information has come to light. In her deposition, Thomas acknowledged that some of her earlier statements were not accurate, and her son made a similar acknowledgment in his own declaration,” the statement continued.

Fresno Unified also stressed that it has not agreed to cover any damages Thomas might ultimately be ordered to pay if she is found liable for defamation.

One of the most significant developments came from Alford himself.

In a July 27 declaration, Alford stated that Arax had never directed a racial slur at him.

“At no time did Coach Don Arax ever call me the word ‘n—–,’ ‘n—a,’ the ‘N-word,’ or any other racial slur,” Alford wrote. He also said he had never heard Arax make a racially derogatory remark about him.

Alford further stated that he never told Thomas that Arax had used a racial slur toward him.

His account became more complicated in an Aug. 14 interview with The Fresno Bee. Alford said that while attending a football camp in 2013, another player told him Arax had used the N-word. Alford said he later told his mother that he had personally heard Arax use the term, even though that was not true.

That admission has become a central issue in the dispute because it raises questions about how the original allegation developed and what Thomas understood when she later spoke publicly about it.

Thomas, meanwhile, has disputed the characterization of her earlier comments and has resisted calls to resign.

Fresno Unified Trustee Keshia Thomas says she will not resign after the Fresno Teachers Association called for her to step down amid new developments in a years-long defamation lawsuit involving a former Bullard High School football coach.
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Arax’s attorney, Brian Whelan, said his client has spent more than four years dealing with what he describes as a false accusation.

“Coach Arax has lived with this false accusation for more than four years,” Whelan told The Fresno Bee, adding that Arax intends to use the court case to clear his name and seek accountability from those he believes were responsible.

The controversy now extends beyond the underlying disagreement about what happened in 2013. It has become a broader dispute over credibility, the responsibilities of elected school officials and whether public money should have been used to finance Thomas’ legal defense.

The ultimate legal question, however, remains unresolved. Arax’s allegations are being litigated through the courts, where the evidence, Thomas’ statements, Alford’s declaration and the circumstances surrounding the original accusation will determine whether Thomas can be held liable for defamation.

The Western Journal