A Connecticut educator is filing a lawsuit against Hartford Public Schools, claiming a violation of his First Amendment rights due to a disagreement with an “Identity and Privilege” training.
John Grande claims in a federal lawsuit that Hartford school officials engaged in a “witch hunt” against him. He alleges they “fabricated” evidence during an investigation. This occurred after he expressed disagreement with the mandatory professional development training titled “Identity and Privilege.” The training was conducted via Zoom in 2020 by the Hartford Public Schools district.
For over 30 years, John Grande served as a gym teacher in the school system. Grande alleges, “I was targeted for punishment by school district administrators because I refused to endorse their agenda to push critical race theory on teachers.” He is filing the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
“They launched a witch hunt against me and ran a kangaroo court to convict me for exercising my free speech rights. They threatened my career to silence me, but with this lawsuit, I’m leveling the playing field and forcing school officials to answer for trampling my rights.”
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Grande believes that the “Identity & Privilege” training was part of an effort to push critical race theory in the school system.
According to the lawsuit, the “Privilege Presentation” provided “examples of privilege” and used language that would prompt Grande, a “straight, white, Christian male,” to mark “yes” in a section of his “identity wheel.”
“Based on those prompts, Mr. Grande believed that the Privilege Presentation targeted a certain class of people, including him, and was an exercise in critical race theory, rather than one aimed at improving the education of students,” the lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit claims that the school district attributed statements to him that he denies making. Other participants accused the gym teacher of falsely stating things about the training and an alleged alteration of a survey response to include language he hadn’t affirmed.
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Following a pre-disciplinary hearing in October 2021, school board members discussed Grande’s statements. After deliberations, the Board issued a disciplinary letter citing his “inappropriate and unprofessional” conduct.
Represented by the Fairness Center, Grande urged the court to rule that the conduct of Hartford Public Schools officials was unconstitutional under the First Amendment. He also sought to have the disciplinary letter rescinded from his employee file. The physical education teacher also requested that the court “award him compensatory and punitive damages.”
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In August 2023, the Connecticut State Board of Labor Relations sided with Grande when he took the matter to the Hartford Federation of Teachers (HFT). However, the HFT refused to address Grande’s complaint against Hartford Public Schools, citing his non-membership and failure to pay dues.
The Board of Labor Relations declared that the HFT illegally discriminated against him based on his membership status. The decision enshrined the right to fair representation for all workers in Connecticut.
He also claimed that the HFT supported the “Identity and Privilege” training.
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