In a lawsuit, former Akron Public Schools employee Steve Keenan alleges his position was restructured and duties reassigned while he was on family and medical leave in late 2024.
Keenan is the former director of facilities services who oversaw the trade-in and private sale of district-owned lawn mowers.
The lawsuit alleges Keenan was repeatedly told he was too young and inexperienced to hold his supervisory role, and that former superintendent Michael Robinson retaliated against Keenan after he raised concerns about Robinson’s behavior to the school board — including starting the investigation into the mower trade-ins.
A separate, third-party investigation into Robinson found he had retaliated against Keenan and other employees during his APS tenure. The investigation did not name Keenan, but the titles and incidents described matched reporting by Signal Akron.
Keenan’s lawsuit also alleges gender discrimination through unequal disciplinary treatment, breach of contract by reducing his authority, responsibilities and access to APS facilities, and defamation for accusing him of “taking advantage of the system” in public statements.
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He was placed on administrative leave in June 2025 amid an investigation into the mower trade-ins. He resigned in September 2025.
On Friday, he filed the lawsuit, seeking reinstatement to his position, back pay and compensatory damages.
He alleges the district breached his contract by placing him on administrative leave based on its investigation into the mower trade-ins, and “constructively terminated [him] from APS” prior to his contract renewal by threatening to bring criminal charges against him if he did not resign.
Akron Public Schools declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
