(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton made the following statement regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of its petition that challenged a lower court decision against Kari MacRae, a Massachusetts high school teacher who was fired in retaliation for social media posts, which decried woke values such as critical race theory being taught in schools. The posts predated her employment at Hanover High School in Massachusetts. Judicial Watch argued the Supreme Court should take up the case as the lower courts misapplied the First Amendment and Supreme Court precedent. Fitton said:

Let’s cut to the chase: Kari MacRae was fired because she spoke out against woke critical race theory before she was hired. The Supreme Court’s decision not to take up her case is a missed opportunity to uphold the First Amendment.

Justice Clarence Thomas in a concurring opinion raised significant concerns about what happened to MacRae:

The First Circuit’s analysis strikes me as deeply flawed. To start, I do not see how the tone of MacRae’s posts can bear on the weight of her First Amendment interest. “Speech on matters of public concern is at the heart of the First Amendment’s protection.” … And, “[t]he inappropriate or controversial character of a statement is irrelevant to the question whether it deals with a matter of public concern.” … “[H]umor, satire, and even personal invective can make a point about a matter of public concern.”

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It undermines core First Amendment values to allow a government employer to adopt an institutional viewpoint on the issues of the day and then, when faced with a dissenting employee, portray this disagreement as evidence of disruption. And, the problem is exacerbated in the case of an employee such as MacRae, who expressed her views only outside the workplace and before her employment.

Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit for MacRae against Hanover High School Principal Matthew Mattos and Hanover School Superintendent Matthew Ferron in November 2021, asserting a claim for First Amendment retaliation (MacRae v. Matthew Mattos et al. (No. 21-cv-11917, 23-1817)).

MacRae was hired as a Hanover High School teacher on August 31, 2021, but was fired on September 29, 2021, over several TikTok posts that were made months prior to her hiring at the school. MacRae, who in May of 2021 was elected to the Bourne School Committee, made the posts in her personal capacity as a citizen and candidate for public office.

Separately, in February 2021, Judicial Watch filed a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of David Flynn, the father of two Dedham Public School students, who was removed from his position as head football coach after exercising his right as a citizen to raise concerns about his daughter’s seventh-grade history class curriculum being changed to include biased coursework on politics, race, gender equality, and diversity (Flynn v. Forrest et al. (No. 21-cv-10256)). The case ultimately settled with the Superintendent acknowledging in a letter “the important and valid issues” raised by Flynn and specific changes in school policies because of Flynn’s complaint.

In July 2021, Judicial Watch filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Palatine, IL, tenured high school teacher Jeanne Hedgepeth, who was fired by the suburban-Chicago school district where she had worked for 20 years after posting comments on Facebook criticizing the riots, violence, and shootings in Chicago in the aftermath of the May 25, 2020, killing of George Floyd. Hedgepeth made the posts on her personal Facebook page while vacationing after the end of the school year, just as some of the most severe violence was occurring. In her posts, Hedgepeth recommended studying Thomas Sowell, whom she described as a “treasure” and a “truth seeker,” and praised political commentator and activist Candice Owens and talk show host Larry Elder. She alleges that the firing violated her First Amendment rights.

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