Fired Allentown middle school teacher wins federal court case | Allentown area

ALLENTOWN, PA. – A former Allentown School District teacher sued the school district, accusing it of violating his civil rights because he participated in the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021. Victory has now been announced in U.S. District Court.

On Friday evening, a federal court jury awarded the former social studies teacher $131,500 after a two-week trial in Philadelphia.

Jason Moorehead accused the school district of violating his constitutional rights by tarnishing his name, claiming he played a more active role in the events at the capitol on Jan. 6. His attorney, AJ Fluehr of Francis Alexander, LLC, told the federal jury that Moorehead, who taught children in the Allentown school district for 17 years, was wrongfully fired by the school district because he held conservative views and attended then-President Trump's rally in Washington, D.C.

Fluehr said that the very next day, January 7, the district, with the help of board chair Nancy Wilt, falsely accused him in a press release of involvement in the riots at the U.S. Capitol.

On January 8, he was questioned at length in district court and made it clear that he was a mile away at the Washington Monument the entire time and that he had not participated in any violence that day.

Fluehr claimed the district also violated Moorehead's rights under the teachers' union's collective bargaining agreement when it suspended him for seven months without cause and ultimately fired him.

Attorney Fluehr told 69 News, “We are pleased that a federal jury has found that the Allentown School District violated Jason Moorehead's First Amendment rights to free speech, assembly and political affiliation. It has also found that then-school board members Nancy Wilt and Lisa Conover maliciously and wantonly attacked him. At no time was there any justification for this insidious and Orwellian action.”

According to court documents, the Allentown School District must now pay $125,000 in damages, while school board member Lisa Conover and former school board chair Nancy Wilt were ordered to pay Moorehead $6,000 and $500, respectively, “for maliciously and wantonly violating his rights.”

The school district's legal counsel says they respect the jury's verdict and have no further comment at this time.