ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania – A federal court jury awarded a former Allentown School District social studies teacher modest compensation Friday night after he claimed school officials violated his civil rights by punishing and ultimately firing him after he participated in the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021.
The jury awarded Jason Moorehead $131,500 in damages after he claimed district and school officials violated his constitutional rights by smearing his name because of his conservative political views and acting on behalf of the FBI in a criminal investigation.
He claimed the district also violated Moorehead’s rights under the teachers’ union’s collective bargaining agreement when it suspended him for seven months without cause and eventually fired him.
The school district must pay $125,000 of that, while school board member Lisa Conover and former school board president Nancy Wilt were ordered to pay Moorehead $6,000 and $500, respectively, for maliciously and willfully violating his rights, court documents show.
“At this time, we have no comment other than to respect the jury’s verdict.”
Brian Taylor, attorney for the Allentown School District
School board member Phoebe Harris and former superintendent Thomas Parker were also named in the lawsuit, but the jury found that they did not violate Moorehead’s rights.
“We are pleased that a federal jury has recognized that the Allentown School District violated Jason Moorehead’s rights to free speech, assembly and political affiliation, and that then-school board members Nancy Wilt and Lisa Conover maliciously and wantonly attacked him,” said AJ Fleuhr, Moorehead’s attorney, in a prepared statement. “There was never any justification for this insidious and Orwellian action.”
Visit to Washington, DC
It was not immediately clear whether the amount awarded by the jury matched what Moorehead was seeking in his lawsuit. His amended complaint did not specify a dollar amount, but he sought damages for lost earnings, loss of career, loss of reputation, mental and emotional pain and suffering, and punitive damages.
He also demanded a public statement from the district acknowledging that it was not present during the January 6, 2021, riots.
The 17-year-old teacher at Raub Middle School attended then-President Donald Trump’s protest against the Electoral College vote count in the 2020 presidential election. But as thousands of protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol, Moorehead insisted he never came anywhere close to the violence.
Instead, Moorehead said, he bought a hot dog, took the bus home to the Lehigh Valley and posted memes about the events on social media.
I request withdrawal
But the district quickly got wind that Moorehead had been in Washington, D.C., and saw his humorous comments about the political unrest on Facebook. The next day, he was suspended indefinitely, and Parker announced in a public statement that the district was investigating an employee who had been at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
Although Moorehead was not named in the statement, outraged citizens soon identified him as the teacher under investigation. His name, photo and home address were posted online by social activists, and Moorehead feared for his safety and that of his family, he testified.
He and his lawyers repeatedly asked the district to retract its statement and clarify that Moorehead did not participate in the riots. But three and a half years later, the district still has not done so.
County officials testified at the trial that the county’s investigation into Moorehead was completed in April 2021. In July, they attempted to bring him back to work on the condition that he complete a course on cultural sensitivity in his social media posts.
termination
Although he was unlikely to return to the classroom because of his standing in the community, he would have received a position and salary to develop curriculum in the district’s administrative office, according to testimony in court.
However, Moorehead refused, claiming the district had created an unsafe, hostile work environment. The district eventually fired him after determining that he had legally abandoned his position.
Brian Taylor, an attorney representing the district and school officials, confirmed the ruling Friday evening.
While Moorehead and his lawyers tried to portray the case as a civil rights issue, the district believes it is an employment dispute, he said.
“At this time, we have no comment other than to respect the jury’s verdict,” Taylor said.
