“A Pennsylvania teacher who was fired for allegedly attending the U.S. Capitol ‘insurrection’ on January 6, 2021, has won a wrongful termination lawsuit after a two-week trial,” reports The College Fix.
Jason Moorehead, who taught social studies for 17 years in Allentown, Pennsylvania, had consistently said he was “at all times over a mile away” at the Washington Monument when the riot was taking place.
But on January 7, the Allentown School District issued a press release that lamented that a school employee “was involved in the electoral college protest” and emphasized “teachers’ duty not to participate in or advocate un-American or subversive doctrines.”
As The College Fix notes,
Although Moorehead wasn’t specifically named in the district statement, “outraged members of the public soon identified him” as the alleged culprit. Some posted Moorehead’s picture and home address on social media.
On X (then Twitter), the account CROH Lehigh Valley (the first four letters standing for “Community Research Opposing Hate”) posted that Moorehead “was identified as an attendee of the J6 Capitol coup attempt” and that “his presence is enough reason for him to never teach #Allentown students ever again.”… It added “Students cannot be safe in a classroom with a fascist.”
During the investigation, Moorehead was “questioned extensively” by district officials where, again, he insisted he was nowhere near the Capitol….Moorehead filed suit claiming the district and several school board members had violated his civil rights…and for illegally suspending him [in violation of] the teachers union collective bargaining agreement.
On Aug. 16, a jury awarded Moorehead $131,500, most of which will come from the district. Two school board members, Lisa Conover and Nancy Wilt, are liable for $6,000 and $500 respectively.
