Lawsuit against Tullahoma High School social media policy drops former principal from complaint

TULLAHOMA, Tenn. (WKRN) — One current and one former member of the Tullahoma High School administrative team have been dropped from a First Amendment lawsuit against the school system.

Last summer a student at Tullahoma High School sued the school system for violating his constitutional rights when he was suspended for three days over internet memes shared on social media in 2022. The suit was filed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a nonprofit organization built to defend and sustain individual rights to free speech in the US, on behalf of the student, who was a minor when the incident occurred.

A month after the suit was filed, Tullahoma High School removed the student’s suspension from his record and altered its social media policy, according to FIRE officials.

Over a year later, the case is still making its way through the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, but two of the defendants have been dropped from the case through a court order . Former THS Principal Jason Quick and current THS Assistant Principal Derrick Crutchfield are no longer parties to the suit.

According to Judge Katherine Crytzer, both Crutchfield and Quick are immune from liability under previous precedent in case law. The doctrine of “qualified immunity” covers government officials acting in their official capacity, the Court said.

Because both administrators were acting in their official capacity as school administrators, they are entitled to qualified immunity, the judge said in her ruling.

Of the nine separate claims made in FIRE’s initial complaint against the school system and the two administrators, only one claim remains, per the ruling. Claim four is against Tullahoma City Schools, arguing the school system violated the student’s constitutional right to free speech.

The student has since graduated from Tullahoma High School and has entered college, according to the ruling.

FIRE attorney Conor Fitzpatrick issued the following statement to News 2:

“We are glad the court ruled the student’s First Amendment claim against Tullahoma City Schools can go forward. No student should face punishment for engaging in nondisruptive expression on their own time away from school. We are disappointed the court granted the school principal and assistant principal qualified immunity, and are considering our options.”

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