LGBT discrimination lawsuit dismissed by federal judge

On April 9, U.S. District Court Judge Hector Gonzalez issued a dismissal of a case filed by Connetquot teachers against the school district regarding first amendment discrimination in displaying pride and progressive pride flags in classrooms.

Jacqueline Napolitano-Furno, a current trustee and former president of the Board of Education and a named defendant in the case against the district, said, “’I’m grateful that the court recognized this lawsuit for what it was—unfounded and lacking merit. From the beginning, it was clear this case wasn’t about civil rights, but about a misplaced focus on personal agendas over educational priorities.”

Napolitano-Furno added, “Classrooms should be spaces of learning and inclusion, not platforms for political expression. Unfortunately, this situation reflected a consistent pattern of distraction from core instruction, creating tension and discomfort for many students—including those the efforts were claimed to support.”

“This case ignited unnecessary division within our community and even drew uninformed commentary from a neighboring BOE official. It’s reassuring to know that, moving forward, our schools can remain committed to academic excellence and student wellbeing—free from ideological interference. Our children deserve better than to be caught in the crossfire of adult agendas.”

Andrew Lieb, the attorney for the teacher plaintiffs, said, “We vehemently disagree with the decision and are taking all options under advisement, including requesting reconsideration, appealing, or pursuing claims in state court as permitted by the decision.”

The court ruling, a 31-page document, framed the premise of the teachers’ First Amendment rights being violated, by the following rubric: “Employees do not speak as citizens for First Amendment purposes ‘when public employees make statements pursuant to their official duties ”… On the other hand, if the employee was speaking as a citizen on a matter of public concern, “[t]he question becomes whether the relevant government entity had adequate justification for treating the employee differently from any other member of the general public.”

Citing the lawsuits Hazelwood School District v. Kuelmeier and Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community, the judge ruled that “school-sponsored speech may be regulated so long as the regulations ‘are reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns.’’

“Under Tinker, school officials may regulate non-school-sponsored speech if the speech “would materially and substantially disrupt classwork and discipline in the school,” read the ruling.

In regards to the district and named defendants’ having qualified immunity against the viewpoint discrimination claim, the court ruled, “Employees are entitled to qualified immunity from civil liability under Section 1983 if either:

(1) their conduct did not violate clearly established rights of which a reasonable person would have known: or

(2)I t was objectively reasonable to believe that their acts did not violate these clearly established rights.”

Citing the case Cornejo V. Bell, the court agreed that, “The individual defendants in this case argue that their actions are entitled to qualified immunity because their conduct did not violate clearly established rights.”

On Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024, Christopher Dolce, a math teacher since 2001 at Connetquot High School, after receiving a “right to sue” issuance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Office, filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court of the State of New York against the Connetquot School District through Smithtown attorney, Andrew Lieb of Lieb at Law, P.C., with 16 claims of hostile environment discrimination, circulating discriminatory statements, retaliation, aiding and abetting discrimination, discrimination, publishing discriminatory notes, sex-based harassment in education, retaliation for opposing harassment in education, first amendment free speech viewpoint discrimination, among other violations over the defendants’ implementation of a policy to remove both the Progressive Pride flag and Pride flags on school property.

Notices of claim were sent as soon as the first incident took place when fellow math teacher, Sarah Ecke, who is the student advisor for the Gay Straight Alliance, was asked to take down a Progressive Pride flag in September of 2022 and told that if she did not, she would also have to take town the Pride flag.

A statement from the Connetquot Special Education Parents Teachers Association made during the public portion of the Nov. 15, 2022 board meeting challenged the circumstances of the initial incident that spurned on the lawsuit. Specifically, the allegations made in the statement offers an alternate explanation citing the well-being of special-needs students for the initial occurrence of Dolce’s colleague, math teacher Sarah Ecke, being asked to take down the Progressive Pride flag in her classroom.

Cited on Connetquot social media pages critical of the reasoning of why the flag was requested to be taken down by Ecke was a video from the Nov. 15, 2022 Board of Education meeting (beginning at approximately 2:07 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3lzF4UJfp8) where Jill Connors, who is currently listed as the Connetquot Special Education Parents Teachers Association president, identified herself as a board member speaking on behalf of the entire board, expressed concern for special needs students.

Connors said that the situation regarding the removal of the flag was an “unfortunate misrepresentation overshadowing the wonderful work of our district.”

“We are wondering what is being done to represent the special-needs students who have had no choice but to be thrown in the middle of all this… it is everyone’s opinion that the children were to allow multiple interruptions in their learning environment during the classroom period on a regular basis with no correction by the class educator or administration,” Connors said during the meeting. “Constantly being interrupted maybe an alternative room. We thought we had mindfulness rooms that expanded on that. How come there was no oversight when curriculum-based learning was taken down to allow room for club-based material? Why was this done during learning classroom time?”

Connors concluded that “it was never about a flag, nor what it represented; it was the disappearance of an educational environment and curriculum-based materials and the replacement with club-based material and personal beliefs in a special-education classroom. How is that an educator can put their personal needs ahead of a child’s academic success? Here we have an adult who put themselves ahead of their students.”

Ecke said in an interview with The Suffolk County News that she had faced no disciplinary actions from the school district regarding interruption or inadequate instruction to any of her students her entire tenure at Connetquot High School.

“As the advisor for the Gay Straight Alliance and in the classroom where the club held meetings, when Sarah Ecke was asked to take down the Progressive Pride flag, and ultimately the Pride flag, it would have been like asking the French teacher to take down the French flag,” said Lieb.

The court addressed this specific citation and said, “[the] French flag displayed in the French classroom—that type of flag was explicitly permitted under the District Policies.”