ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A former Allentown teacher who attended former President Donald Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, “Stop the Steal” rally is suing the Allentown School District for violating his First Amendment rights — a charge the district, its school board and administrators deny.
Monday marked the first day of the jury trial in the federal civil lawsuit brought forth by Jason Moorehead, a former social studies teacher at Raub Middle School.
The Allentown School District and its school board are listed as defendants in the case, as well as individuals, including former school board President Nancy Wilt, school Directors Lisa Conover and Phoebe Harris, Deputy Superintendent Jennifer Ramos, former Superintendent Thomas Parker and former Executive Director of Human Resources Anthony Pidgeon.
Moorehead claimed the district falsely linked him to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and failed to correct the public record, causing him emotional, economic and reputational damages.
“It’s the things that make life worth living — he lost all of them.”AJ Fluehr, an attorney for Jason Moorehead
An attorney for the district said Monday that Moorehead’s troubles are his own doing — the former teacher's social media posts made light of the violent event and caused ASD community members to distrust his teaching ability.
Jury will weigh case
The trial is expected to last about two weeks and is being held at the Edward N. Cahn U.S. Courthouse in Allentown. District Court Judge John M. Gallagher is presiding over the case. Gallagher was nominated by Trump to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 2019.
Gallagher told jurors Monday they are tasked with deciding whether the defendants acted using the power they have under state law to deprive Moorehead of his constitutional rights to free speech, political affiliation and assembly. They also must decide whether Moorehead suffered damages.
The jury consists of five men and three women; they were selected Friday.
Attorneys for both parties gave opening statements Monday outlining the evidence and arguments they plan to present throughout the case. About 40 members of the public attended the opening day of the trial.
AJ Fluehr, an attorney for Moorehead, claimed in his opening statement that the school district destroyed Moorehead’s family life and career through its actions. Moorehead has since gotten a divorce and no longer works in the education field.
“It’s the things that make life worth living – he lost all of them,” Fluehr said.
Origins of case
Moorehead, who taught in ASD for 17 years, was placed on paid leave while the district investigated whether he was involved in the insurrection, and he was eventually fired in 2022 after being asked to return to work and declining.
Moorehead told ASD during a Jan. 8, 2021, interview that he did not participate in the insurrection; a district investigation later confirmed Moorehead was not involved in the violent riot. The district and the FBI were in communication during the investigation.
Moorehead and his brother-in-law went to see Trump speak at a rally in Washington on the same day as the insurrection but remained in the area near the Washington Monument, which is about 1.25 miles away from the Capitol building.
Moorehead believed he could not safely return to work after the district released a Jan. 7, 2021, statement that said he was involved in “the electoral college protest that took place at the United States Capitol Building on January 6, 2021,” according to his attorney, who said a reasonable person would agree with Moorehead’s assessment.
Though the district statement did not name Moorehead, Fluehr said district staff and community members knew it referred to Moorehead because he was told not to come to work Jan. 7 and his name was being mentioned publicly in comments on social media in reference to the statement.
District points to social media posts
Moorehead began receiving death threats and angry voicemails calling him a “white supremacist.”
The district has still not apologized, the attorney said.
Brian Taylor, an attorney for ASD, argued Moorehead caused the district community, including students and parents, to distrust him and his teaching abilities based on his own social media posts. This was not the result of the district statement, he said.
ASD began receiving complaints from parents and community members prior to the statement, Taylor said.
One of Moorehead’s social media posts featured him at the “Stop the Steal” rally, captioned “Doing my civic duty!” Another showed Moorehead waiting in line for a hot dog.
Moorehead also shared memes about the insurrection online, including one he captioned, “Wrong on so many levels, but hilarious none the less.”
At two February 2021 school board meetings, members of the public lambasted Moorehead, calling him a white supremacist and expressing concern about him teaching largely Black and Brown students.
Board accused of fanning flames
Fluehr pointed to those meetings and said some school directors encouraged critiques of Moorehead.
Conover, who allegedly sat on the board of Promise Neighborhoods of the Greater Lehigh Valley at the time, encouraged the executive director of the anti-violence nonprofit agency to circulate a petition implying Moorehead is a white supremacist, Fluehr said.
He also said Conover and Harris encouraged members of the public to come speak out against Moorehead at the meetings.
“This is not a case about politics. This is an employment case.”Brian Taylor, an attorney for Allentown School District
Taylor said school directors and community members have a right to free speech just like Moorehead. He also said school directors cannot act officially as individuals; rather the body acts collectively during votes.
The district claimed Moorehead’s First Amendment rights weren’t violated, and he was fired only after failing both to meet with his employer and return to work, which was contingent on completing cultural competency training.
“He never returned back to work to see if the environment was hostile,” Taylor said.
'An employment case'
Taylor said the district does not dispute Moorehead’s right to attend a protest, and ASD does not claim he entered the Capitol.
“This is not a case about politics,” Taylor said. “This is an employment case.”
As for Moorehead’s personal troubles, ASD’s attorney said Moorehead and his wife divorced due to infidelity, according to the divorce filing — not the actions of the school district.
Additionally, Moorehead is employed as a driver for his attorney, Taylor said, adding Moorehead earned double the amount he did as a teacher and received a six-figure bonus in 2023.
“If he really loves his job teaching, why isn’t he trying to do that?” Taylor said.
