Eric Dodge, a science teacher at Wy’east Middle School outside of Portland, Or., won a lawsuit against the Evergreen School District for violating his First Amendment rights after he wore a MAGA hat to a staff training day featuring racial bias training.
In a legal filing published just before New Year’s Eve, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit defended Dodge’s right to wear the hat despite attempts by school administrators to admonish him. According to court documents, a professor leading the cultural sensitivity programming session complained to school principal Caroline Garret that “she felt intimidated and traumatized” at the sight of Dodge’s MAGA hat.
Other teachers also complained with one reportedly crying and another feeling threatened at the sight of the hat. The uproar causes the principal to chide Dodge to use “better judgment” in the future. However, Dodge continued to wear the hat at the following day’s session prompting the principal to call the school’s HR officer, Janae Gomes.
At the end of the staff training day, Dodge approached Garret asking for opportunities to teach classes other than science. Dodge alleges that the principal said “What is the fucking deal with your hat?” adding Dodge was a “homophobe and a racist and a bigot and hateful.” Garret denies the depiction of the conversation.
The experience led Dodge to file a lawsuit against Garret, Gomes, and the Evergreen School District. The Appeals Court only ruled in favor of Dodge’s claim against Principal Gomes.
“That some may not like the political message being conveyed is par for the course and cannot itself be a basis for finding disruption of a kind that outweighs the speaker’s First Amendment rights. Therefore, Principal Garrett’s asserted administrative interest in preventing disruption among staff did not outweigh plaintiff’s right to free speech,” the court ruling notes.
The court documents also quote Wy’east’s principal Caroline Garret, at length, explaining her decision to censor Dodge.
“Mr. Dodge’s decision to wear his MAGA hat on school grounds within weeks of the Trump Administration’s loud and publicized initiative to deport as many immigrants as possible was an affront to Wy’east’s agenda of cultural inclusivity and interest in creating a safe place for ELL students. Ms. Garrett had a reasonable basis, given the anti-immigrant tenor radiating from the administration, to demonstrate inclusivity and tolerance to ELL students and their parents on the school campus,” Garret told the court.
Dodge reportedly resigned from his teaching post in 2020, according to Fox.