MAGA hat makes Liberal cry...
9th Circuit Appeals court denies principal qualified immunity in teacher's MAGA hat job retaliation lawsuit
"Clearly established" in case law that school cannot restrict employee's speech to quell "nothing more than the natural effect that disfavored political speech often has on those with different viewpoints," 9th Circuit says.
A suburban Portland, Ore., teacher allegedly threatened with discipline if he kept bringing a Make America Great Again hat to teacher-training sessions can sue his former principal for First Amendment retaliation, a federal appeals court has ruled.
A 17-year veteran of the district, Eric Dodge had brought the MAGA hat to a "cultural sensitivity and racial bias training" at Wy'east the week before school started, according to the factual record. It was his first assignment to the school.
According to the court record:
Sitting in the back of the room the first day, Dodge didn't wear the hat but rather placed it "either on the table in front of him or on top of his backpack." The Washington State University professor leading the training complained to Garrett that "she felt intimidated and traumatized" by the sight of the hat, while another teacher "cried" and one called the hat "threatening."
Garrett consulted Gomes, the HR official, before telling Dodge that "some people take [the hat] as a symbol of hate and bigotry" and he should use "better judgment." He brought the hat to the next day's training at Evergreen High School, at which point Garrett and Gomes decided to order Garrett to ditch the hat because "it was causing the disruption to staff."
Dodge alleged the principal confronted him at the Wy'east training later the same day, asking what was "the f**king deal with your hat" and calling him a "homophobe and a racist and a bigot and hateful."
"Clearly established" in case law that school cannot restrict employee's speech to quell "nothing more than the natural effect that disfavored political speech often has on those with different viewpoints," 9th Circuit says.
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