The assistant principal at James Clemens High School in Madison, accused of punching a student on a school bus in a fight captured on video, has denied the allegations made against him in a lawsuit.

Attorneys for Jason Watts on Monday filed a motion to dismiss.

“The defendant denies the allegations that he excessively punished Jane Doe by punching her in the face,” the federal court filing said. The denials also extend to the plaintiffs’ allegation that she was placed in alternative school as retaliation, according to the filing.

The filing appears to include the first public comments from Watts since the Dec. 14, 2022, incident on a bus parked outside the school. Watts’ attorneys Clay Carr and Mark Boardman of Chelsea argue that the case against their client should be dropped because “if those allegations (in the lawsuit) were true, they could establish nothing more than a state law tort, not a violation of the United States Constitution.”

Previously, the Madison City school board filed a motion to dismiss the governing body from the lawsuit.

At a press conference the day after the incident, Madison City Schools Superintendent Ed Nichols said the assistant principal (school officials did not identify Watts by name) was attempting to break up a fight inside the bus near the rear. Nichols said the assistant principal was struck repeatedly in the back of the head and was bitten on his arm through his long-sleeve clothing to the point that blood was drawn. School officials distributed photos of the bite injury at the press conference.

Video apparently filmed by students on the bus appear to show Watts striking a student in the head. That’s the allegation made in the lawsuit filed by an unidentified student through her mother.

Related: Click here and here to see video of the bus altercation.

The motion to dismiss filed Monday does not dwell on the allegations, instead focusing on the legal arguments of why the case should be dismissed.

The motion to dismiss filed by the school board last month said the lawsuit “flagrantly misstates the altercation” and provided a “false version of events.”

At the December press conference, Nichols said the bus’s security video camera captured the incident – which he said lasted about three minutes. The school system declined to release the video. Video captured by students are shorter in duration.

Nichols said the assistant principal felt he was in danger and “felt the need to protect himself.”

Also named as a defendant in the lawsuit is Brian Clayton, who at the time was the principal at James Clemens and at the front of the bus at the time of the incident, according to the lawsuit. Clayton has since been hired as superintendent of Hartselle City Schools.