A transgender University of Wyoming sorority member’s lawsuit against two lawyers who leveled allegations against the student is headed to trial, a judge’s Friday order indicates.

Artemis Langford sued Cassie Craven and John Knepper in March, two attorneys who filed a lawsuit against Langford’s sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, a year prior.

Langford’s petition in the Laramie County District Court describes how Langford sought membership in a Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority chapter at the University of Wyoming in the autumn of 2022, and was later accepted by majority vote.

Some of the other sorority members were uncomfortable with Langford’s inclusion in the women’s organization, and with Langford’s alleged behavior during overnight parties and other events.

Seven women sued the sorority in spring 2023, though one later dropped out, claiming the sorority’s actions were hurting its integrity and future, and harming them. 

They also named Langford under a pseudonym in the lawsuit because they believed Langford should have the chance to defend against an action that could result in the transgender student being removed from the sorority.

Craven and Knepper included in their lawsuit complaint numerous details about Langford.

They described Langford’s height and weight, physical appearance, and speculated about whether Langford was undergoing gender-change treatments.

Judge Alan B. Johnson, the federal U.S. District Court judge overseeing the Kappa suit, ruled that the women could not remain anonymous.

Knepper and Craven re-filed the lawsuit revealing their clients’ names, and Langford’s.

‘Embarrassing’

These actions are the basis of Langford’s lawsuit against the two attorneys.

Langford’s March lawsuit filed in state court accuses the attorneys of abuse of process, malicious prosecution, intrusion upon seclusion and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Langford accuses the attorneys of divulging and alleging irrelevant facts for their litigation against Kappa Kappa Gamma to garner media attention and raise money toward their attorneys’ fees.

“The lawsuit’s causes of action did not require defendants to allege any details about Ms. Langford whatsoever, other than that she had been voted into the sorority and was a transgender woman,” says Langford’s civil petition, written by Alex Freeburg of Freeburg Law LLC. “The allegations appeared to be an attempt to spark public outrage at Ms. Langford’s expense.”

The Kappa attorneys and/or clients agreed to interviews on the Laura Ingraham Angle, the Megyn Kelly Showand Fox News’ America reports, says the petition.

“Defendants mocked Ms. Langford’s physical appearance, made jabs about her GPA and attempted to paint Ms. Langford as a sexual deviant who had joined a transgender-friendly sorority simply to gain access to women,” the petition adds.

Langford also disputes the attorneys’ decision to unseal Langford’s name when they unsealed their clients’ names after the judges denied the clients’ request for pseudonymity.

Langford, however, had gone public as the first openly-transgender member of the Wyoming-based Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority as early as 2022, in a story in UW’s student newspaper the Branding Iron.

On Aug. 25, 2023, Johnson dismissed the women’s lawsuit against Kappa Kappa Gamma, saying private organizations can define their own terms ­— even the definition of the word “woman.”

Johnson also wrote that allegations about Langford’s behavior had “no bearing on (the women’s) legal claims” and were “unbefitting in federal court.”

No Duty Of Care

Craven and Knepper filed an Oct. 14 answer to Langford’s claims via their attorney Anna Reeves Olson, saying they deny wrongdoing.

They also argued that they did not owe a duty of care to Langford; that Langford has not suffered any actual damages; that any damages Langford claims were based on contingent and speculative rights; and that Langford’s claims are barred by litigation privilege.

On Friday, Laramie County District Court Judge set a scheduling conference for Jan. 6 to map out a route for trial.

“The court expects the parties to confer prior to the scheduling conference as to when they anticipate the case will be ready to go to trial, and to discuss any scheduling,” says the order.

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.

It’s getting colder around the Cowboy State, with some serious snow expected in parts of Wyoming this week.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the Northern Black Hills of Wyoming and South Dakota through 5 a.m. Wednesday. And it’ll be a doozy for the first significant winter storm of the season for the region.

Although the snow has been flying in the higher elevations of Wyoming, up to 9 inches of snow is expected across the Black Hills, with wind gusts as high as 50 mph. Shane Eagan, a meteorologist with the NWS Office in Rapid City, South Dakota, said the impact will be determined by elevation.

“It’s highly elevation-dependent,” he said. “Sundance will probably get 3-6 six inches by Wednesday, and there could be a foot or more as you go up.”

Meanwhile, there might be a few flurries across the rest of Wyoming, but most spots will be spared snow for now. Crook and Weston Counties will bear the brunt of the blizzard-like conditions.

“It’s all driven by the terrain,” Eagan said. “The snowfall potential increases as the cold air hits the upslope, while everywhere else won’t get much, if any.”

Catching The Edge

Northeast Wyoming is catching the edge of another cold surge that will bypass most of the state. 

Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day said waves of winter weather could make travel difficult in Crook and Weston Counties this week.

“It’s going to be persistent snow,” he said. “There may be heavy accumulations over the next two and half days, but it’ll come down in sheets and curtains rather than a steady curtain.”

Beyond the Black Hills, Sheridan and Gillette might see a sprinkling of snow, but the system won’t extend into the lower elevation areas of northeast Wyoming. That could cause some travel impacts on the Interstate 90corridor, especially since the cold weather will persist into the weekend.

“In general, we’re not warming up this week,” Eagan said. “The trend is warmer into the weekend, but it is hard to say how quickly the snow will melt once it falls. It should be here for at least a few days, if not longer.”

The impacts of this week’s winter storm will vary depending on one’s proximity to the Black Hills. Winds will get stronger, and the snow will become deeper along the highest sections of I-90 between Wyoming and South Dakota.

“This is a fairly common pattern in the winter for that region of the state to get snow when northwest winds push into the Black Hills,” Day said. “The closer you get to the Black Hills, the more snow you’ll get.”

Cold And Blustery

While Crook and Easton Counties get covered, the rest of Wyoming will feel cold and blustery. But Day described it as “nothing to write home about.”

“It’ll be a lot colder across the state on Tuesday, with brisk winds and snow flurries on the plains,” he said. “Temperatures will moderate a little bit on Wednesday as the colder air moves off to the east later this week.”

Nevertheless, Day anticipates that next week will be full of “active weather.” Cold fronts from the Pacific Ocean will descend into Wyoming, which means fluctuating temperatures and mountain snow across most of the state.

“We have to take these patterns on a day-by-day basis,” he said. “You can’t look too far ahead, but it’s going to be a busier pattern than what we’ve seen recently. Last week, nothing was going on. It was warmer here than in Florida. These incoming frontal systems will keep things active.”

Season’s Greetings

Meteorological winter started Dec. 1, 20 days before the calendar marks the start of winter. Wyoming has missed the worst of this season’s winter weather, but there are changes ahead.

Day said most of the winter weather this season has skewed eastward, bringing subzero temperatures and heavy snow to the Great Lakes and Midwest. He called these patterns “cold shots.”

“I think the really cold air will stay to our east this December,” he said. “That’s caught some people in the eastern half of the country off-guard, as the first week of the month was much colder than they anticipated.”

Wyoming might be missing these cold shots, but this is just the beginning of the winter season. Day believes there’s a change on the horizon, especially as 2024 ends.

“The real cold looks like it will get here in January and February for this part of the country,” he said. “Through the winter, these patterns shift around and move westward.”

The week between Christmas Day and New Year’s could be the first statewide taste of the colder, snowier winter ahead. Day thinks that’s when winter will kick in with more ferocity across the Cowboy State.

“That’s when we’ll start to see winter,” he said. “There’s already been a lot of winter this year, but it’s been to our east. We’re just getting this pattern started.”

Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.

SALT LAKE CITY — A missing Wyoming man with dementia whose wife spotted him on the nightly TV news hundreds of miles away in Salt Lake City has died soon after returning home.

Michael Black, 91, fell ill with influenza days after he returned with his wife, Avril Black, 77, to Afton, Wyoming.

“And I thought, ‘Hey, this isn’t good,’” Avril Black told KSL-TV. “The nurses said he could go home, but he wasn’t going to get better. He had problems with his heart and his kidneys.”

He collapsed and died Thursday, a week after returning from Utah, according to Black.

Michael Black had wandered away from home Nov. 25 and hitchhiked more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) to Salt Lake City. Tipsters helped police track his movements.

By Nov. 27, he had gotten a ride to a Salt Lake City rescue mission. There, KSL-TV recorded a segment on feeding the homeless at Thanksgiving time — a piece seen by Avril Black that night.

She spotted her husband among dozens of others at the shelter. On Thanksgiving, she set out for Salt Lake City to fetch him.

Soon after they got home, Michael Black fell ill with a cough. He died under home hospice care, according to his wife.

“It was his time, and he had an adventure, and he enjoyed his little adventure. That’s life, I guess. Maybe he’s in a better place,” Avril Black said.

The couple were married for 47 years.