BREAKING: A Texas student who refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance has won a settlement in her case against a former teacher who harassed her over that decision.

The Texas Association of School Boards will pay out $90,000 to avoid a trial.

Texas student wins settlement against teacher who bullied her for not saying the Pledge
A Texas association will pay a settlement of $90,000 after a teacher pushed the Christian Pledge of Allegiance ritual on students.
HEMANT MEHTA

American Atheists has won a significant legal settlement on behalf of a teenager who said she was perpetually harassed by one of her Texas high school teachers for refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance.

As a result of the litigation, the Texas Association of School Boards, which AA describes as a “risk pool funded by Texas school districts,” will have to pay $90,000 to end the case before it ever goes to trial, a decision that suggests they knew how this would play out and wanted to avoid a future, further catastrophe.

The background of the Texas Pledge case

In 2017, when then original lawsuit was filed, then-17-year-old Mari Leigh Oliver was a student at Klein Oak High School in Texas. She didn’t want to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance for personal reasons. Specifically, she doesn’t believe our nation is truly one with “liberty and justice for all” and she didn’t want to pretend like it was. Her teachers and principals, completely ignoring the law that allows students to sit out while the Pledge is recited, constantly punished her for her decision. In some cases, when another student bullied her, they did nothing serious to put a stop to it.

The allegations in the lawsuit were jaw-dropping.

As a freshman, Oliver was written up (a form of punishment) by her World Geography teacher for remaining seated during the Pledge. When she told the principal what happened, the principal defended the teacher by saying he was allowed to write her up “because of his military service,” as if that excused his violation of her civil rights. That teacher was never disciplined. In fact, on another occasion, he temporarily took away Oliver’s phone because of her “lack of respect” for the Pledge. (The lawsuit also noted that he read Bible passages to the students on multiple occasions.)

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