Former Waukesha teacher asks judge to deny the Waukesha School District’s motion to dismiss her lawsuit
The lawyer for former Waukesha teacher Melissa Tempel has asked a judge to deny the school district's motion seeking to dismiss Tempel's lawsuit against it.
Attorney Summer Murshid filed the response Nov. 17 on Tempel's behalf in federal court to deny the Waukesha School District's Nov. 1 motion to dismiss Tempel's lawsuit.
Tempel was fired in July from her job as a first-grade dual language teacher at Heyer Elementary School. She claimed the school district retaliated against her for tweeting about her opposition to the district's decision not to allow the song "Rainbowland" to be performed at a first-grade concert. Tempel filed the lawsuit Sept. 5 and claimed her First Amendment rights were violated.
Here's what to know about Tempel's opposition to the district's attempt to dismiss her lawsuit.
Tempel says her First Amendment rights were violated
In the motion to deny the lawsuit's dismissal, Tempel maintained her speech was constitutionally protected and that she spoke as a private citizen.
The school district maintained Tempel was speaking as a district employee. Her tweet showed the name "Maestra (meaning "teacher") Melissa," referred to "my first graders," "our concert" and "our administration." In addition, she tagged the district in her tweet.
Tempel said her tweet and subsequent interviews were not within her duties as a teacher, and that she did not use her Twitter account as part of her official duties as a teacher.
She said in her motion that the tweet was made while she was off work and not on district property.
Waukesha School District Superintendent Jim Sebert declined to discuss the case and Tempel's recent request, saying the district does not comment on pending litigation.
"We continue to work with our outside legal counsel, who will be filing a reply to Plaintiff’s opposition later this week," Sebert said in an email Nov. 28.
Waukesha School District says Melissa Tempel's rights did not outweigh the district's interests
In seeking to dismiss the case, the district argued that Tempel's speech did not outweigh the district's interest in providing educational services, saying her speech caused "substantial disruption and safety threats" because she went public with her concerns instead of through "appropriate channels" within the district.
The problem with Tempel's speech was the manner used to express her disagreement, not the speech itself, the district said.
The district also argued that Sebert did not violate Tempel's First Amendment rights, saying the school board alone made the final decision to fire Tempel and that only the school board is authorized to decide on teacher employment and dismissal, under state statute.
The district also said Sebert acted reasonably when he adopted assistant superintendent of human resources Sharon Thiede's investigative report's findings and recommending Tempel's firing.
What happens next?
The judge will decide whether to accept or deny the district's motion to dismiss. There is no deadline for the judge to make that decision, Murshid said.
Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Melissa Tempel opposes Waukesha Schools' motion to dismiss her lawsuit
