Judicial Watch Petitions Supreme Court on Behalf of Massachusetts Teacher Fired for Conservative Social Media Posts

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a petition for a writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court challenging the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in the case filed on behalf of 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. Judicial Watch argues the Supreme Court should take up the case as the lower courts misapplied the First Amendment and Supreme Court precedent.

Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit for Ms. 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.

“I got fired specifically for a social media post I made,” she said. “That’s a violation of free speech,” MacRae told the Cape Cod Times in an interview published on October 13, 2021.

The lawsuit details that Mattos met with MacRae on September 24, 2021 to inform her that he was investigating the impact of six memes and two TikTok videos that MacRae posted which were referenced in a September 22, 2021, Boston Globe article.

On May 18, 2021, as part of her campaign for school committee member, MacRae posted a TikTok video which stated, in part:

So pretty much the reason I ran for school board and the reason I’m taking on this responsibility is to ensure that students, at least in our town, are not being taught critical race theory.  That they’re not being taught that the country was built on racism.  So they’re not being taught that they can choose whether or not they want to be a girl or a boy.  It’s one thing to include and it’s one thing to be inclusive. And it’s one thing to educate everybody about everything. It’s completely another thing to push your agenda.  And, with me on the school board, that won’t happen in our town.

In a letter dated September 29, 2021, Mattos fired MacRae from her position at Hanover High School, stating “I have determined that continuing your employment in light of your social media posts would have a significant impact on student learning at HHS.” Ferron reviewed and approved Mattos’ decision to fire MacRae.

No Hanover High School parent or student had raised concerns about MacRae’s employment at Hanover High School because of the social media posts.

In June, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld the lower court’s decision which concluded that Hanover Public Schools provided evidence of the potential for disruption, which justified MacRae’s firing.

Judicial Watch argues that MacRae was fired for unrelated, preemployment speech on matters of public concern:

Here, MacRae spoke as a private citizen on a matter of public concern before she applied to—let alone was hired by—Hanover Public Schools. Her speech was not at school because, obviously, it could not have been. Nor was it about the school district or its administrators, teachers, parents, or students. It was not even about the town. In fact, it is undisputed that MacRae’s speech falls squarely within the (Supreme) Court’s category of private speech on matters of public concern. Her speech added to the public debate on immigration policy, racism, and gender identity.

Judicial Watch notes its petition “raises a question of exceptional importance for tens of millions of current and future public-school teachers:

There are approximately four million public-school teachers in the United States. There are also tens of millions of persons who aspire to be public-school teachers in the future. This case concerns whether those individuals have the same free speech rights as every other private citizen.

In a July 9, 2024, editorial that calls for the Supreme Court to review the case, the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board states:

Ms. MacRae says no federal appellate court to her knowledge has held that government employers can punish employees for speech unrelated to their jobs and which occurred before they were on the payroll.

The First Circuit’s decision delineates no statute of limitation or limiting principle to employee speech that government employers can punish. A teacher could be fired for hanging a “Make America Great Again” flag at home. Political activity during college years could become grounds for dismissal. Workers who don’t agree with the left’s cultural mores may now have to self-censor in private life to avoid losing their jobs.

Donald Trump likes to say that his opponents aren’t only coming after him—they’re also coming after you. Ms. MacRae’s cancellation is a case in point that could use Supreme Court review.

“Let’s cut to the chase: Kari MacRae was fired because she spoke out against woke critical race theory before she was hired as a teacher at Hanover High School. The firing was a blatant violation of her First Amendment free speech rights. The Supreme Court should step in and uphold the First Amendment,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

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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