Teacher sues principal after interference in school prayer event

A teacher sued her principal, alleging that he prohibited her from praying on school grounds whenever students might see her, in violation of her constitutional rights and Texas law. 

The principal responded that he was entitled to qualified immunity, meaning that he could not be sued as an individual for his actions taken as a school principal. The lawsuit was presented to the court of appeals to consider whether the principal could be sued individually for violating the teacher's constitutional rights.

The teacher is a Christian who regularly engaged in prayer and Bible study with other teachers before the school day began. Her Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) club planned to host a "See You at the Pole" event, an annual time for students to gather to pray together, usually before school at their school's flagpole. As she had done for the prior three years, the teacher emailed staff inviting them to join her in prayer by the flagpole at 8 a.m. on the morning of the event. The expectation was that the student group would not arrive until later, after she and her colleagues finished praying.

The principal responded with two emails. First, in a staff-wide message, he stated that district policy prohibited employees from "praying with or in the presence of students." Second, in a separate email directly to the teacher, he reiterated that "employees CANNOT pray with or in the presence of students." And he clarified that although the teacher's proposed prayer gathering would take place before the school day, she would still be on campus, visible to students in her role as an employee. 

The teacher responded that her invitation was only for staff before students arrived, just like they had done for the past three years, and that there would be no students present when she and her colleagues were out there. The principal replied that, even if no students were present at the pole, by 8 a.m. students were generally waiting at the front entry of the building and their presence on campus meant that teachers' prayers at the pole would result in a violation of school policies. 

When the teacher and a few colleagues proceeded to pray near the flagpole on the morning of the See You at the Pole event anyway, the principal stopped them. Calling them into a conference room, he again indicated that teachers may not pray where students "might see" or "be influenced by" their conduct — even if such conduct occurred when the teachers were not on school time.

The teacher filed a lawsuit against the school district and the principal personally. She alleged violations of her constitutional rights under the First and 14th Amendments as well as violations of the Texas Constitution.

The issue that the court of appeals was asked to consider was whether the principal could be sued as an individual. The law states that government officials (including school district employees) are immune from liability so long as their actions do not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights. In order to determine whether the principal could be sued, therefore, the court had to determine if he had violated the teacher's constitutional rights.

The court of appeals noted that courts have held that a teacher may engage in personal prayer outside instructional time, and the school district may not impose categorical restrictions on that religious expression based solely on the possibility that students might observe it. If the principal imposed a ban on teacher prayer wherever students might see it, he violated the law. Therefore, the court of appeals held that the lawsuit against him could proceed.