A former student at a Florida high school who was suspended for Facebook posts criticizing a teacher settled with the school district. The district expunged the record of the suspension and paid $15,000 in attorney’s fees. -db
Student Press Law Center
January 20, 2011
By Aly Brumback
FLORIDA – A former Pembroke Pines Charter High School student suspended for critical Facebook postings about her teacher has settled with the school after a three-year legal battle.
Katherine “Katie” Evans signed the settlement in November, in which the school agrees to remove any record of her suspension or the initial incident and pay $15,000 in attorney fees and $1 in nominal damages. The school signed the settlement in December.
“At the end of the day we got everything that we asked for; we got an incredible ruling from the judge,” Evans’ attorney Matthew D. Bavaro said. “This case was never about money, it was about standing up for Katie’s First Amendment rights and the removal of the documents from her file, and we achieved it all.”
On Feb. 12, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Garber ruled that Evans’ Facebook post was protected under the First Amendment. He also denied principal Peter Bayer’s motion to dismiss the case and his qualified immunity defenses.
Randall Marshall, legal director of the ACLU of Florida, said once Garber’s decision was released, it took care of most of the litigation and it made sense to settle.
Evans was suspended for disruptive behavior and cyberbulling in 2007 after creating a Facebook page critical of her Advanced Placement English teacher. Evans wrote, “Ms. Sarah Phelps is the worst teacher I’ve ever met. To those students who have had the displeasure of having Ms. Sarah Phelps, or simply knowing her and her insane antics: Here is the place to express your feelings of hatred.” Evans was also removed from her AP-level classes by Bayer.
Bavaro said he found the punishment in this case unique.
“Many of the cases that have been filed around the country dealt with threats or advocating drug use or illegal activity,” he said. “In this case, Katie’s speech was maybe insulting but rather benign.”
Evans, now a student at the University of Florida, removed the page a few days after it was created when three commenters on the page showed support for the teacher.
Marshall said school officials were not aware of the page before Evans took the page down and the teacher did not see it while it was still up.
“It’s hard to imagine that anybody could seriously claim that a teacher was somehow cyberbullied or anything else with that kind of posting,” he said.
Evans filed suit in 2008 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, seeking an order for the school to expunge the discipline from her record, a declaration that Bayer violated her constitutional rights, attorney fees and nominal damages.
Both Bavaro and Marshall expect the law will soon have to catch up to technology.
“[There’s] no doubt in my mind,” Bavaro said. “The law is clearly going to have to adapt and establish First Amendment principles in social networking situations.”
“Without a doubt. I think we will increasingly see cases that involve not only students but perhaps teachers as well,” Marshall said. “I think we’re seeing those across the country already, but it certainly is a trend I think we’re going to see more and more of.”
Evans was not available for comment. E-mails and calls to Bayer and his attorney, E. Bruce Johnson, were not returned.
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One Comment
Such incidents are heartening for freedom loving people.
However, social networks are known to have disruptive attributes because of the unfettered freedom that they offer.
The young generation will have to find a way to self regulate themselves and to help those amongst them that use a social network to be more responsible.
All this heartburn could have been avoided. Thanks to Magistrate Judge Barry Garber freedom of speech won the day!
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