Former student complained about a Ringling College dean. Now he’s suing her for defamation

This story has been updated with comments from Ringling College.

A Ringling College of Art and Design alumna raised concerns about a school administrator earlier this year, inspiring others to share their own complaints against the campus official.

Christopher Shaffer, the associate dean of students for Residence Life, is now suing for more than $30,000 in damages, claiming emotional distress, defamation of character and several other issues.

Represented by Derek Bernstein, an attorney based in St. Petersburg, Shaffer recently filed the lawsuit against Megan Ruiz, a Ringling graduate who worked under Shaffer for several years.

“There were a few red flags in the beginning,” Ruiz said in a past interview. “One of them, him specifically calling me out in training, taking me into his personal car and then calling a transgender student an ‘abomination’ while there’s just the two of us.”

“There were two times where Shaffer had very blatantly said, ‘This student has autism or Asperger’s or they’re on the spectrum,’ and the second time it happened I was really concerned,” she continued. “I followed up with the student. They said they did not consent to that information being spread.”

The lawsuit cited an article published in the Bradenton Herald and the Miami Herald, accusing Ruiz of spreading a “false story” in her interview with a reporter. The lawsuit described Shaffer as “an exemplary employee with no blemishes on his record.”

“The Defendant’s false and malicious statements, when considered alone and without innuendo, have (a) negatively impacted Plaintiff’s trustworthiness and character, (b) caused Plaintiff to be subjected to distrust, ridicule, contempt, and disgrace, and (c) injured Plaintiff’s reputation and goodwill in the Tampa Bay community.”

The former student is represented by Massey Law Group, P.A., an office based in St. Petersburg. In a prepared statement on Tuesday afternoon, attorney Starlett Massey said the lawsuit was “vague and lacking in specific detail.” She said her office was “not clear on what false statements Mr. Shaffer is accusing her of making.”

“This lawsuit is a clear attempt to bully Ms. Ruiz into silence in retaliation for her voicing legitimate concerns, which have been expressed by many others in the Ringling community,” Massey wrote.

“If Mr. Shaffer persists with this litigation, we look forward to aggressively defending Ms. Ruiz and conducting a thorough investigation into the claims brought to light by Ms. Ruiz and others,” she continued.

It started with a tweet

The public conversation about Shaffer began in late June, when Ruiz made a post on Twitter:

“Since we’re talking about dangerous men in art schools . . . If you’re a woman going to Ringling, or planning on going to Ringling, stay the (expletive) away from Chris Shaffer,” she wrote.

The post, shared more than 2,000 times on Twitter, “insinuates that Shaffer is dangerous to females in a sexual predator type of way,” the lawsuit states.

Ruiz expanded on her concerns in a past interview with the Bradenton Herald. She worked under Shaffer as a resident assistant, or RA, and the job allowed her to pay tuition at Ringling.

The lawsuit said Shaffer was motivated by genuine concern when he helped Ruiz secure the job. In a past interview, Ruiz said the dean used that favor to quell her concerns for years.

“The second red flag is when I tried to come forward about the HIPAA (privacy) laws and he specifically was like, ‘I gave you this job. You should be grateful to me. You should be defending me. You should be on my side.’ You know, held it over my head, and he was fully aware of the fact that, if I lost my job, I would not be at Ringling,” Ruiz previously said.

Shortly after graduating in 2019, she filed a complaint against Shaffer, accusing him of discriminating against other students based on their religion, gender identity and socioeconomic status. The former student also accused Shaffer of spreading private health information.

“I genuinely would have taken my experiences to my grave if it weren’t for my concern for future and current students,” Ruiz said in the June 2019 complaint.

After investigating the complaint, Ringling College found no “validity and no evidence of wrongdoing,” according to the lawsuit.

Ruiz again raised her concerns in the recent Twitter post. It quickly gained traction and she realized there were other people with complaints against Shaffer. A few days later, Ruiz joined other past and current students in writing a letter to Ringling College.

“We, the students and alumni of Ringling College of Art & Design formally and publicly request an investigation into Christopher Shaffer, Dean of Students, for alleged misconduct, intimidation, blackmail, negligence, and abuse of power,” the letter read.

Demanding a public apology and Shaffer’s firing, the letter was sent to the “entire campus community of faculty and staff,” the lawsuit said.

The letter also included a document full of complaints. The past and current students had created an online form, collecting more than two dozen submissions in the first 24 hours.

Of the 26 initial complaints received by Ruiz and her peers, a majority of the authors provided their name, according to a review by the Bradenton Herald. However, to protect the authors, none of the names were included in the letter to Ringling College.

One woman said she was sexually assaulted on campus and that Shaffer asked her “invasive and blaming questions.” The Bradenton Herald later interviewed the former student, and she said that Shaffer asked questions about what she was wearing and whether she was intoxicated.

Another complaint, submitted by the mother of a Ringling student, described Shaffer as “demeaning” and “inappropriate.” In a follow-up interview, the mother said she complained to Ringling College several times, though nothing seemed to change.

Shaffer’s lawsuit described the complaints as “anonymous recounting of ‘former students’ saying nasty and horrible things about Shaffer’s character and ethics.” It also noted that Shaffer “had no formal writeups or violations by Ringling College based on any wrongdoings.”

After laying out the recent complaints, the letter to Ringling and the ensuing media coverage, the lawsuit goes on to say that “on or about July 30, 2020, Ringling College concluded their investigation into the allegations by Ruiz and found no wrongdoing by Plaintiff.”

After a version of this story was published online and in print, a spokeswoman for the college contacted the Bradenton Herald by email and clarified that Ringling’s most recent investigation was still ongoing.

“The inquiry that began in summer 2020 was absolutely not concluded in July, and is, in fact, still ongoing,” said Raelyn Lincoln, special assistant to the college president.

Shaffer is now suing Ruiz for “an amount to be determined at trial.” He is also seeking attorney’s fees, a public retraction and injunctive relief to prevent Ruiz from making “defamatory remarks.”

This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 5:00 AM.