The former president of the Cherry Creek School Board warned the panel nearly four years ago – prompted by Denver Gazette stories detailing allegations of a toxic and misogynistic work environment within the district – that employee grievances might not be impartially or fairly addressed because of the marriage between its superintendent and human resources director.

That superintendent, Christopher Smith, abruptly resigned last week following new allegations in media reports that the relationship with his wife, human resources director Brenda Smith, had created a toxic work environment, in which employees found it difficult to have grievances resolved.

But the latest claims are much the same as those exposed in February 2022 by The Denver Gazette, which outlined alleged behavior that included outright threats of firing to subordinates for reporting any misbehavior or misconduct, as well as a permissive culture where men were treated demonstrably different than women and inappropriate or harassing behavior was routinely tolerated.

Christopher Smith was named superintendent – a $332,601-a-year job – in April 2021.

In addition to the workplace problems, former board president James O’Brien wrote board President Kelly Bates in March 2022 that permitting the couple’s relationship “appears to be out of compliance with Board Policies” that prohibited staffers from supervising an immediate family member. That policy, which is still in place, only allows the superintendent to grant an exception so long as the relationship doesn’t “adversely affect” the couple’s professional duties.

Bates issued a memo nearly six weeks later in response to O’Brien’s letter – a copy of which was obtained by The Denver Gazette – that laid out the board’s exception permitting the Smiths to work together as long as they weren’t in disagreement over a personnel matter. If that happened, Bates wrote, then “I hereby direct the Superintendent” to involve his deputy superintendent and the district’s legal counsel to render a decision.

O’Brien’s letter reflected that the district’s four other board members at the time – two of whom are still there, including current board President Anne Egan – were sent a copy.

Kelly Bates’ term on the board ended in November 2025 and voters elected her husband, Terry Bates, to take her place.

In his letter, O’Brien warned that allegations in the Denver Gazette’s reporting at the time gave “an appearance of misconduct, select favoritism in promotions and demotions, and a general targeted malfeasance directed toward certain individuals.”

O’Brien, a Centennial resident, served on the board from 2007-2015, the final two years as its president. He could not be reached for comment Friday. Board members did not respond to efforts to reach them, nor did a spokeswoman for the school district.

The Denver Gazette reported allegations from employees that included the following: Male administrators were promoted or given raises, despite reprimands for sexually harassing or racist behavior; women were admonished for misbehavior more harshly than men with similar or more severe misdeeds, such as the misappropriation of school funds; men guilty of sophomoric hijinks heavy with sexual or racist overtones are routinely tolerated because witnesses, many of them women, feared speaking up — including a December 2017 meeting of elementary school principals and assistants where an administrator’s ugly sweater featured a snowman’s carrot nose set instead to appear as male genitalia.

It also reported how male administrators allegedly used off-color remarks or shared inappropriate anecdotes, including Christopher Smith, a reflection of the district’s permissive culture that had fostered for years.

“While I recognize that the events described publicly in The Denver Gazette are allegations at this point, nonetheless, the tone and seriousness of the complaints are troubling regarding the general employee environment of the District,” O’Brien wrote to Bates.

He added: “My concerns about impartiality in this regard stem from the relationship of the Superintendent (Smith) and the Chief Human Resources Officer (Brenda Smith).”

O’Brien warned the relationship could be a problem, even though, he wrote, “my purpose is not to imply that there is an any improper behavior” by the Smiths.

“Clearly, in my judgment, and, as a long-standing community member, parent, and past CCSD Board member, there is a strong appearance of a conflict of interest,” he wrote.

O’Brien also pointedly asked if the school board provided “a written waiver to the aforementioned Board policies acknowledging a potential conflict of interest, and then proceed(ed) to sanction the working relationship” between the Smiths.

Bates’ memo came six weeks later on May 9, 2022.

Central to the allegations in the Denver Gazette’s stories in 2022 was a federal lawsuit filed by former Cherry Creek principal Linda Maccagnan, in which she claimed the district retaliated against her when she complained of discriminatory conduct she experienced or saw occurring to others.

A federal judge in U.S. District Court in Denver dismissed the case in July 2025 before a jury could decide it, saying Maccagnan’s evidence didn’t sufficiently impact her.

Senior Judge Christine Arguello earlier had dismissed Maccagnan’s toxic workplace claim, saying that, while some of the examples of misconduct Maccagnan outlined were inappropriate, they didn’t specifically impact her employment.

“The Court agrees that some of these incidents demonstrate a level of immaturity unbecoming of school administrators,” Arguello wrote in a 60-page opinion issued in September 2024. “However, the Court concludes that no rational jury could find these inappropriate comments sufficiently pervasive or extreme to support a hostile work environment claim” under the law.

Maccagnan is appealing her discrimination claims.