FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) — A Fresno County judge has ruled in favor of former Bullard High School football coach Don Arax, knocking out several key defenses the Fresno Unified School District had raised in his defamation case.
The court ruled Fresno Unified can no longer argue Trustee Keshia Thomas’s accusation against Arax was true or protected.
The district did not oppose Arax’s request for the ruling.
Thomas withdrew those same defenses in August and later publicly apologized to Arax.
Arax has spent more than four years facing a public accusation that he used a racial slur toward a Bullard student.
His attorney, Brian Whelan, said no one is willing to stand behind the claim now.
“Fresno Unified was willing to spread the accusation, but it was not willing to defend it,” Whelan said.
Don Arax v. Fresno Unified School DistrictPDF previewPreview PDF
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The lawsuit centers on statements made by Thomas and repeated by Fresno Unified to employees and the broader community.
Whelan said district witnesses testified that the Communications Department sent memos about the allegation across the district beginning in May 2022.
One memo also mentioned Arax in connection with an unrelated incident at another school.
According to Whelan, one district witness said he did not believe the accusations but never corrected the record.
The case will now focus on what Fresno Unified said, how widely it was shared, and the harm Arax says it caused.
His attorneys say they plan to present that evidence to a jury.