ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A former Allentown Schools teacher who successfully sued the district for violating his First Amendment rights after he attended a 2021 “Stop the Steal” rally is seeking $3.1 million to cover his attorney’s fees and other costs.
Former Raub Middle School teacher Jason Moorehead is owed the funds because of the time, effort and money required to hold the district and its officials responsible for constitutional violations, his lawyer argued in a court filing.
The Allentown School District’s legal team claimed in a court memo that Moorehead's payment request is inflated and should be denied outright because it was not made in good faith.
Moorehead turned down up to $2.5 million in settlement money offered by Allentown School District.Lehigh County Court records
A U.S. District Court judge will hear oral arguments on the matter May 6 at the Edward N. Cahn U.S. Courthouse in Allentown, according to an April 1 court filing.
Additionally, other new court filings show Moorehead was unsatisfied with the $131,500 awarded to him for damages at the end of a jury trial last August.
He unsuccessfully sought a new trial to increase the damages awarded.
Court documents also show Moorehead turned down up to $2.5 million in settlement money offered by ASD.
First Amendment rights violated
In his federal lawsuit, Moorehead, who taught in ASD for 17 years, claimed the school district and its officials violated his constitutional rights by falsely linking him to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021.
On that day, Moorehead was in Washington, D.C., at a rally with President Donald Trump — more than a mile away from the Capitol.
Through a public statement and other actions, Moorehead said the district and its officials created an unsafe, hostile work environment that effectively made it impossible for him to go back to teaching.
The former social studies teacher was fired in 2022 after being asked to return to work and declining.
A jury agreed with Moorehead’s claims, finding the school district and its officials smeared Moorehead’s name for his conservative political beliefs.
As a result, the school district was ordered to pay $125,000, school board Director Lisa Conover was ordered to pay $6,000 and former school board President Nancy Wilt was ordered to pay $500.
School Director Phoebe Harris was also found liable for violating Moorehead’s rights but was not ordered to pay for any damages.
Despite the victory, Moorehead’s attorney filed a motion for a new trial in September, saying the former teacher was entitled to a greater damages award.
In a Monday opinion, District Court Judge John M. Gallagher denied the motion.
Damages, potential costs and fees
Moorehead has received no payments for damages, but attorneys for ASD said in a Wednesday statement “that the defendants are ready, willing and able to pay the verdict.”
They advised Moorehead’s attorney that their clients would pay once the motion for a new trial was withdrawn or resolved, according to the statement.
The school district’s attorneys said ASD’s insurance company will pay the $125,000 in compensatory damages it owes Moorehead.
"Having misjudged the value of his case, Mr. Moorehead now asks this Court, and the Allentown School District, to compensate his attorneys for his poor decision."Court memo from ASD's attorneys
The attorneys declined to comment on whether Conover and Wilt will pay Moorehead the collective $6,500 in punitive damages they owe out of pocket, or whether the insurance will also cover that.
As for the attorney’s fees and other costs, if Judge Gallagher orders the defendants to pay Moorehead, then those payments will also be sent by ASD’s insurance company, the district’s attorneys said in a statement.
'Deliberate conduct' complicated case
According to court documents, Moorehead is seeking $2,873,850 in attorney and paralegal fees, and $265,795.74 in other costs — totaling $3.1 million.
Moorehead’s attorney claimed in a court filing that the amount is justified because it took “tremendous resources” to litigate the case.
The attorney also said it was the defendants' “deliberate conduct which drastically expanded and complicated this case.”
“Having misjudged the value of his case, Mr. Moorehead now asks this Court, and the Allentown School District, to compensate his attorneys for his poor decisions.”Allentown School District attorneys wrote in a memo
However, the school district’s attorneys claimed in a memo that Moorehead and his legal team are seeking the amount of funds they thought the jury would award them.
“Having misjudged the value of his case, Mr. Moorehead now asks this Court, and the Allentown School District, to compensate his attorneys for his poor decisions,” the school district’s attorneys wrote in a memo.
The $131,500 verdict is a mere 2.6% of the $5 million Moorehead demanded in order to settle before the case went to trial, according to court documents. He also demanded a correction of the public record.
ASD offered Moorehead a $1 million settlement, which was declined; and then offered him a $2.5 million settlement, which also was declined.
Additionally, ASD offered Moorehead $750,000 if he would drop the claims against individual school directors. He declined that offer, too.
ASD pushes back on costs and fees
If Judge Gallagher were to order the defendants to pay Moorehead’s fees and costs, that amount should only be $117,433.66, ASD’s attorneys said in a court memo.
AJ Fluehr, Moorehead’s head attorney on the federal case, charged $1,000 an hour — a rate the school district’s attorneys said is far outside the norm, especially for Fluehr’s 10 years of litigation experience.
Allentown School District is trying “to avoid responsibility” for the costs and fees “which they caused to be incurred.”AJ Fluehr, Moorehead’s head attorney on the federal case, in court filing
They cited a Bethlehem-based attorney with 36 years of experience who only charges $350 an hour.
Fluehr said his $1.55 million fee was fair given Moorehead’s smaller legal team and the complexity of the case, according to a court filing.
Francis Malofiy, an attorney and paralegal on the case, also charged a $1.17 million fee. Malofiy owns the law firm that handled Moorehead’s case.
Additional attorney and paralegal fees totaled $156,750, according to court documents.
Fluehr wrote in the filing that the school district is trying “to avoid responsibility” for the costs and fees “which they caused to be incurred.”
ASD claims charges 'irrelevant'
The school district’s attorneys also took issue with the $265,795.74 in costs submitted by Moorehead’s legal team.
They pointed to “irrelevant charges,” such as receipts for “WaWa, Dunkin Donuts, 7-11, gas stations, and a litany of other businesses that have nothing to do with the practice of law,” according to a court memo.
Additionally, the school district’s attorneys took issue with expert fees and flight charges, among other costs.
Moorehead’s attorney argued in a court filing that such costs were necessary for the case. For instance, food charges were for the legal team’s meals during trial breaks, so they could continue working together on the case.
Additionally, Moorehead’s attorney argued that experts were necessary to the case, and thus, ASD “unreasonably” forced the law firm to incur these costs by “frivolously” contesting that it created a hostile work environment for Moorehead in the first place.
As to flight costs, the attorney wrote in a court filing that some of Moorehead’s family members were flown into Allentown in case they were called as witnesses.
Despite believing the costs and fees are justified, Moorehead’s attorney provided hypothetical reductions to the charges submitted.
Using less severe reductions, the $3.1 million requested falls only to $1.8 million — still a much greater sum than the $117,433.66 calculated by ASD’s attorneys.
