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.
