Dedham school officials sued over firing football coach

Dedham school administrators are being sued by the high school football coach who was fired last month after he raised concerns about his daughter’s curriculum and the use of Black Lives Matter in the classroom, the coach’s attorneys wrote in a federal suit filed this week.

The coach, David Flynn, argues in the lawsuit that his questions about his daughter’s seventh-grade curriculum are protected under the First Amendment.

“Plaintiff suffered loss of earning, emotional distress, loss of reputation, and harassment as a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ violation of his constitutional rights,” the lawsuit reads.

One part of the lawsuit describes Flynn and his wife — during their daughter’s remote learning — seeing a cartoon version of the teacher wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt.

“Plaintiff and his wife were concerned about the instruction their daughter was receiving and contacted both the teacher and the school’s principal,” the suit reads. “The principal responded, but Plaintiff and his wife did not feel that their concerns were addressed adequately.”

Flynn brought his concerns to the Dedham School Committee about the history class, according to the suit. The parents ended up removing their children from the school system.

Then a couple months later, Flynn was fired.

“We met with Mr. Flynn today because he has expressed significant philosophical differences with the direction, goals, and values of the school district,” school administrators wrote on Jan. 20. “Due to these differences, we felt it best to seek different leadership for the program at this time.”

Flynn is suing the Dedham superintendent, Michael Welch; high school principal, Jim Forrest; and director of athletics, Stephen Traister.

A spokeswoman for Dedham Public Schools said in a statement, “The District is aware of the suit filed in federal court Tuesday. We have no further comment at this time.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3pA8EF4