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The husband of Humble ISD’s superintendent filed a bombshell sexual harassment and wrongful termination lawsuit Wednesday against the district's school board president, plunging the district deeper into leadership turmoil.
Troy Kite, a former Humble administrator who’s married to Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen, alleged in his lawsuit that Board President Robert Scarfo made multiple “sexually charged” comments to him and inappropriately touched him over a five-year period.
Kite also alleged Scarfo and other Humble board members illegally orchestrated his ouster from the district, which followed a board-backed investigator concluding Kite created a hostile work environment and made sexually explicit comments about colleagues.
Kite retired in April, one day before trustees were scheduled to vote on his potential firing. In a statement at the time, Kite said he was “embarrassed” by some of his actions, though he also called the year-long investigation “anything but fair or efficient.”
Scarfo did not immediately respond Thursday to phone calls and a text message from the Abdelraoufsinno.
Kite's lawsuit does not include statements from witnesses or other evidence related to the allegations. Lawyers typically do not include detailed pieces of evidence in their initial legal filings.
The allegations add to the chaos enveloping Humble, a district of about 47,000 students in northeast Harris County.
Fagen has been on paid administrative leave since mid-May, when four of the district’s seven board members — Scarfo, Chris Parker, Ken Kirchhofer, Mike Grabowski — voted in favor of the move in a meeting she hurriedly exited. The four trustees haven’t detailed their reasons for the vote.
The controversy surrounding Kite — and by extension, Fagen — has split the board, with three trustees alleging that Scarfo and his allies haven’t been transparent in their handling of the issues. Two of the three trustees, Martina Lemond Dixon and Robert Sitton, voted against placing Fagen on leave. The third board member, Marques Holmes, abstained from the vote.
Stunning allegations
In his lawsuit, Kite detailed several instances of inappropriate behavior by Scarfo dating back to 2019, including touching Kite and making “suggestive” comments toward Kite and other Humble employees.
Examples of the touching detailed in the lawsuit include Scarfo running his hands down Kite’s chest; Scarfo placing his hand on Kite’s lower back and “stroking in inappropriately”; and Scarfo placing his hand on Kite’s shoulder area and leaning his chest against Kite.
Kite also alleges that Fagen acted as a “human shield” between him and Scarfo at a 2022 Houston Astros game when the board president acted “predatory.” (Fagen has said she disclosed her relationship with Kite to board members in March 2022.)
Kite said Scarfo’s alleged inappropriate attention to him became a running joke among Humble employees, with some of his colleagues playfully calling Scarfo his “boyfriend.”
The lawsuit also describes a culture of fear surrounding Scarfo’s leadership, claiming employees know not to get on his “bad side” and that he is known to “lash out.”
Kite has also faced allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate on-the-job conduct — with district employees validating many of the claims.
Multiple district staffers said Kite made sexually explicit comments, including statements about women wearing “f— me heels” and warnings that women shouldn’t “get close to me wearing that,” according to a report by an investigator hired by board members. Several employees also described Kite as a short-tempered administrator who had thrown, slammed and broken objects while in the office.
Some employees told the investigator, Giana Ortiz, they felt uncomfortable with Kite’s behavior, while others weren’t troubled. Ortiz found the allegations were credible enough to warrant Kite’s firing due to violations of school board policy, state ethics codes and federal Title IX gender discrimination law.
Kite said he retired in April under pressure from unnamed trustees who said they planned to fire him if he didn’t leave.
“The constant sexual harassment that Plaintiff had to endure, combined with the illegal and unethical behavior of the Defendants since Plaintiff spoke up, finally pushed Plaintiff to leave the job that he loved,” Kite’s lawyers wrote in their lawsuit.
A district in distress
Kite’s lawsuit marks a dramatic escalation in a district dealing with leadership uncertainty and numerous allegations of misconduct lobbed by board members, employees and local parents.
Board members have not said if or when Fagen might return from administrative leave. Deputy Superintendent Roger Brown is serving as the district’s acting superintendent.
Fagen recently tried to leave the district, applying in February for a superintendent position in Reno, Nevada. Board members there ultimately chose an internal candidate on the same day Humble trustees placed Fagen on leave. The controversy surrounding her husband trickled into the interview process, according to records posted by the Washoe County School District.
At the same time, Humble’s school board appears deeply fractured, with four trustees banding together and three trustees united in their opposition to the majority.
Lemond Dixon, Holmes and Sitton said in early April that they were caught off guard by the board’s efforts to vote on Fagen’s job status. Trustees ultimately tabled that decision, but they returned one month later and voted 4-2 to put Fagen on leave.
Trustees also voted 4-3 to publicly release the investigator’s report detailing the allegations against Kite, despite the district earlier seeking a Texas Attorney General’s Office ruling that would allow them to withhold it.
The vote followed calls from members of the public for more information about the investigation and the district’s handling of the probe. But Trustee Robert Sitton, who voted against releasing the document, said he wanted to keep it private because the district is embroiled in several “intertwined” Title IX investigations. Releasing the records could lead to community members drawing conclusions about the investigations without full context, Sitton said.
District officials have not released detailed information about any additional Title IX investigations.
Records obtained by the Abdelraoufsinno also show the Texas Education Agency is conducting a preliminary review of multiple complaints against Humble leaders. The complaints include allegations of misuse of public funds, a failure to supply public records on time and board member conflicts of interest. The records don’t outline who filed the complaints or which district officials are accused of misconduct.
TEA officials conduct a preliminary review of complaints from the public before deciding whether to launch a formal investigation. If state investigators pursue an investigation and ultimately conclude that district officials have engaged in misconduct, Texas’ education commissioner could appoint a monitor to oversee parts of district operations or replace the board, among other sanctions.
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