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A Colorado school district is being sued for allegedly firing an educator who claimed the United States is the “greatest country” ever founded.
America First Legal filed the lawsuit Thursday against the Cherry Creek School District claiming that the district violated Patrick Hogarty’s First Amendment rights when it “pressured him to embrace race-based ideologies” during a mandatory diversity training in January.
During the training organized by “Courageous Conversations,” Hogarty, who was then Dean of Students at Campus Middle School, was asked, “What does it mean to be White?,” “What experiences define Whiteness?” and “How do you identify?”
In response, he allegedly said that he identifies as an American, that he loves his country, and that he believes it is the greatest country ever founded.
The program facilitators had assured participants that all comments would remain confidential and would not impact employment status, but the employee’s comments were reported to the school principal as having “racist undertones,” according to the lawsuit.
Hogarty, who served as the Dean of Students from 2021 to 2024, according to America First Legal, was informed in March that his position was being eliminated by the district, who cited “budgetary reasons.”
When he expressed that he did not believe their justification for eliminating his position, they placed him on administrative leave for “unprofessional conduct.”
“As alleged in the complaint, Cherry Creek School District blatantly violated the First Amendment rights of our client when they terminated him because his pride in the United States of America did not align with the district’s political ideology that America is a systemically racist nation,” America First Legal Senior Advisor Ian Prior wrote in the lawsuit.
“Like other school districts across the country, Cherry Creek has replaced the Bill of Rights with the ‘DEI Manifesto,’ and teachers, students, and parents are being silenced for standing up for the values that make America great.”
He continued: “We are proud to stand up for all teachers across America who are being unfairly persecuted for daring to challenge a government-sponsored orthodoxy that teaches hatred of America and seeks to marginalize people based on their viewpoints and the color of their skin.”
Officials from Cherry Creek School District did not respond to a request for comment in time for this report.
