Attorney Kimberly Hermann is confident that her clients will prevail in their lawsuit against Springfield Public Schools (SPS) over mandatory "equity training."
“It's very well-settled law that the government and public schools are an arm of the government, cannot compel teachers, students or anyone to affirm ideas that they don't believe in,” Hermann told the St. Louis Record. “They cannot require teachers to discriminate against their students and so the law is on the teacher's side.”
Hermann is general counsel at the Southeastern Legal Foundation, a nonprofit that specializes in liberty issues.
Hermann’s clients Brooke Henderson and Jennifer Lumley are current employees of Springfield Public Schools who have filed a federal lawsuit against the district alleging that mandatory equity training is unconstitutional.
“The oppression matrix and the white supremacy chart that are in the training speak for themselves,” Hermann said. “They describe what they believe is white supremacy and an example is that if you voted for Donald Trump and if you believe in the phrase 'Make America Great Again,' then Springfield Public Schools considers you to be a white supremacist.”
But Stephen Hall, Springfield Public Schools’ chief communications officer, said the legal action is a distraction designed to consume time and resources that are better focused on the students.
“This effort is part of a misinformation campaign designed to undermine our district’s pursuit of equity for all,” Hall told the St. Louis Record. “SPS is prepared to vigorously defend our efforts to honor and respect the identities and lived experiences of all students and staff. We are confident that the court will ultimately determine the lawsuit is frivolous and without merit."
Filed in the Western District of Missouri Southern Division, the Aug. 18 complaint accuses the school district of using their rightfully earned pay as leverage to cause them to participate in the training as a way to meet their mandatory credit hours.
“They did this training last year and everyone was required to complete it,” Hermann said. “In fact, if they didn't complete it, they were prompted to send in the form that they did do it or else they were threatened to have their pay docked for not finishing it.”
Counts in the complaint include violations of compelled speech of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, content and viewpoint discrimination, and unconstitutional conditions of employment.
“We need to get back to the basics,” Hermann added. “We need to remember that we have a constitution, and the government needs to be held accountable when they violate our constitutional rights whether that's the constitutional rights of the kids in the classroom, the parents, or the teachers.”
The case is currently pending before U.S. Magistrate Judge Morris.