A Tennessee high school student is taking legal action after he was suspended for three days following what he called a violation of his freedom of speech.
The lawsuit was filed last Wednesday in the Eastern District of Tennessee Winchester Division. The boy is a rising senior at Tullahoma High School who is named only by his initials, I.P. Defendants named in the suit include Tullahoma City Schools, Principal Jason Quick, and Vice Principal Derrick Crutchfield.
The legal action stems from the high school's administrative decision to suspend the student after he posted memes of his principal on his Instagram page. The first post was shared on May 22, 2022, in which I.P. posted memes created by another user onto his Instagram page.
The images depict the principal in an unflattering manner with captions including “Like a sister but not a sister <33” and “My Brother.”
According to the lawsuit, the memes and captions were intended to suggest “a close friendship between I.P. and Quick and to provide a humorous contrast to Quick’s overly serious demeanor towards I.P. and other students.”
In another post shared on June 9, 2022, I.P. reposted an image on his Instagram that showed Principal Quick as an anime cat wearing a dress. A third post was shared on August 2, 2022, and depicts “Quick’s head superimposed on a hand-drawn cartoon meant to resemble a character from the online game Among Us. The image also shows a cartoon bird named Mordecai, from the Cartoon Network series Regular Show, shown clinging to Quick’s leg.”
On August 10, 2022, school officials told I.P. that he would be suspended for five days. After I.P.’s mom met with school administrators, the suspension was reduced to three days.
According to the lawsuit, at the time of his initial suspension, the student was receiving treatment for clinical depression and anxiety. After the vice principal alerted him that he would be suspended, the student allegedly had a physical reaction according to the lawsuit.
“After Crutchfield informed I.P. about the suspension, I.P. became visibly upset and started panicking about how the suspension would affect his future and his standing at Tullahoma High School. I.P. experienced sweating, shortness of breath, and lost feeling in both arms,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit accuses school administrators of failing to acknowledge that the suspension would cause him “emotional distress.”
According to the school's social media policy, students are barred from posting pictures online that could result in “the embarrassment, demeaning, or discrediting of any student or staff.” The school policy prohibits students from posting such photos “whether at home or school.” I.P. posted the photo while he was off school property during the conclusion of the school year.
According to the lawsuit, the school administration's decision to suspend I.P. because of the social media photos he shared while off school property was a violation of his First Amendment rights. The lawsuit explains, “The First Amendment bars public school employees from acting as a round-the-clock board of censors over student expression. The Supreme Court has been clear: Unless a student’s off-campus expression causes a substantial disruption at school, the job of policing their speech falls to parents, not the government.”
