Judge sides with Central Valley School District in dispute over administrator's social media posts

SPOKANE, Wash - The Central Valley School District was within its right to discipline a school administrator for making political posts on social media.

Randey Thompson was an assistant principal at Evergreen Middle School between August 2019 and June 2021. At the time, he had been employed by the district for 30 years.

In August 2020 during the Democratic National Convention, Thompson posted on Facebook calling it the "Demtard convention" and called Michellle Obama a "hateful racists [sic] b*tch." He said, in part, "the rest of us are sick and tired of your act and are going to take you to the woodshed for a proper education."

Thompson said it was posted on his private Facebook account and that he did not intend to send the post to people outside of 12 close conservative friends.

Federal court documents show he updated the post, not calling Ms. Obama the offensive name and changing some of the other profanity.

Thompson said someone hacked his account before he could post the second post and that the original post was seen by a CVSD employee and sent district administrators.

Court documents show an assistant superintendent called Thompson and told him he was being placed on administrative leave and not allowed to contact other staff, employees, teachers and students.

The assistant superintendent said it was the word "demtard" that specifically resulted in Thompson being placed on leave.

A third-party investigation ordered by the school district uncovered other instances where Thompson was accused of using terms like "Governor Short Bus" to describe Governor Jay Inslee on school grounds.

The investigation also said Thompson also used the terms "snowflakes" and "Tide Pod challenge kids" to refer to students and using the term "short bus" when discussing special needs students. He's accused of asking a Black student whether he felt he was being treated differently than "the normal students."

In January 2021, court documents show the district offered Thompson a teaching position if he signed a document agreeing not to sue the district. If he signed, the district would agree to end its investigation and not fire him.

Thompson rejected the offer.

In June 2021, Thompson was assigned to teach World History and Health and Fitness at Ridgeline High School, though the court documents note he was not certified to teach world history.

The school district website shows Thompson is still employed at Ridgeline.

Thompson sued the district in federal court, saying he was retaliated against for exercising his First Amendment rights.

In a lengthy decision handed down this month, U.S. District Court Judge Stanley A. Bastian sided with the school district.

Bastian wrote that the comments on social media would be constitutionally protected free speech, but that the comments made on school grounds were adequate reason for the change in Thompson's employment.

The judge said Thompson did not prove his First Amendment rights were not violated when they transferred him from the administrative position to the teaching position.

"Here, the record is undisputed that CVSD transferred [Thompson] because of [his] use of derogatory terms in his Facebook post, his alleged derogatory statements made during the course of his employment, his alleged obstructive behavior and perceived dishonesty during the investigation, and his unwillingness to appreciate the negative connotations of the words he used," wrote Judge Bastian. "Notably, the majority of [his] speech that was the cause of concern for CVSD was not constitutionally protected speech. No reasonable fact finder could find that CVSD transferred [Thompson] because he was critical of the Democratic Convention or the Democratic Party."

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