KRDO13 Investigates: District 11 employee initiates lawsuit against top officials, alleges stealing of confidential files

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A Colorado Springs School District 11 employee has filed a civil complaint against the district's superintendent and deputy superintendent, alleging the theft of confidential files about the superintendent.

KRDO13 obtained and reviewed a copy of this complaint filed with the El Paso County District Court on September 8, 2026.

Natasha Bullard Ka’onohi has been the District 11 Director of Equal Opportunity Programs & Ombudservice since September 2023. According to District 11's website, the District Ombudsman "serves as an independent, confidential resource to assist in resolving problems, complaints, conflicts, and other school-related issues when normal procedures have failed."

The complaint accuses Deputy Superintendent Brandan Comfort of entering Ka’onohi's office and taking several confidential files, including one labelled "Superintendent."

Superintendent Michael Gaal is also listed as a defendant in the complaint, which states that Comfort acts at his direction.

On February 9, 2026, the complaint alleges a staff member told Ka’onohi that they witnessed Comfort use a key to unlock the door to the office three times, leaving the office with file folders in his hand at least once from February 2 to February 6.

On February 10, the lawsuit states that the "Superintendent" file had been returned to the wrong cabinet.

In a text exchange about the file being returned, the lawsuit alleges Comfort asked Ka’onohi if she had been doing recreational drugs because she “was the one seeing and not seeing things.”

To date, the lawsuit claims the other missing files have not been returned.

It should be noted that complaints in the "Superintendent" file were not formalized due to fear of retaliation from Superintendent Michael Gaal by the District 11 employees who complained, according to the lawsuit.

District 11 provided KRDO13 with an investigation summary and timeline conducted by an independent third-party in response to Ka'onohi's proposed complaint received by district officials on May 22, 2026.

According to district counsel, Ka'onohi was asked to defer filing the complaint while the investigation proceeded, to which she agreed on June 2, 2026.

The independent workplace investigation took place from June 5 to August 31 of this year. The independent investigation concluded that the evidence did not substantiate the allegations of
wrongdoing by Superintendent Gaal or Deputy Superintendent Comfort.

According to district counsel, Ka'onohi filed a revised version of the earlier complaint against
Brandan Comfort and Michael Gaal in El Paso County District Court on September 8, 2026.

The District 11 Board of Education held executive session at the September 16 Special Board Meeting for legal briefing and advice regarding the litigation.

The Colorado Springs School District 11 Board of Education provided the following statement on the matter:

"The District 11 Board of Education acknowledges the civil complaint filed against Superintendent Michael Gaal and Deputy Superintendent Brandan Comfort. We take any concern raised by an employee seriously. Accordingly, legal counsel for the District retained an independent third party to conduct a thorough investigation of the allegations against Superintendent Gaal and Deputy Superintendent Comfort.

The independent investigation is complete, and the findings did not substantiate allegations of wrongdoing by Superintendent Gaal or Deputy Superintendent Comfort.

Based on these findings, the Board remains confident in Superintendent Gaal and Deputy Superintendent Comfort’s continued leadership of the District and will evaluate any new information as it becomes available.

Because this matter is pending litigation, the Board will not comment further on the specific allegations, evidence, or claims. We will allow the legal process to proceed while District leadership continues its work on behalf of our students, staff, and community."

District counsel said that "consistent with Colorado law, the District will provide legal counsel for Superintendent Gaal and Deputy Superintendent Comfort as this matter proceeds."

KRDO13 reached out to Ka'onohi several times for comment but has not heard back. 

Following this report, District 11 School Board Directors LeAnn Baca Bartlett and Charles Johnson, who said they were not speaking on behalf of the district or other board members, told KRDO13 they were not aware of the allegations prior to last week. They also said they were not aware that an investigation was underway or that a finding had been made.

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