A federal judge threw out educator Shayma Alzubi’s lawsuit against Fort Worth ISD on Thursday, ruling the district lawfully reassigned her from a job as principal after her social media posts drew backlash.
U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman decided that Alzubi’s promotion and pay increase undercut her claim that she had been punished for constitutionally protected speech. He also found that she failed to show that the district treated her differently from colleagues because of her Palestinian Muslim identity.
Alzubi cannot refile her lawsuit, Pittman wrote, because she already “alleged her best case.” However, she can appeal the decision.
“The facts alleged by Ms. Alzubi, while perhaps indicative of personal trials Alzubi has faced in her career as an educator, do not rise to the level of a constitutional deprivation,” Pittman wrote. “Federal courts are not the appropriate forum for school administration.”
Gadeir Abbas, deputy director of litigation for the Council of American-Islamic Relations, said the decision does not change Alzubi's goal.
“Shayma lost this case because the district cleared her of wrongdoing, gave her a promotion, and then raised her salary. And in many ways, that's a win," said Abbas, one of Alzubi's attorneys. "It's still Shayma's goal to be a principal in Fort Worth, and CAIR will continue to fight with her to achieve that goal.”
FWISD spokesperson Evan Anderson said in a statement that district does not comment on litigation.
Pittman ruled in late July that FWISD would not be forced to reinstate Alzubi as principal of Western Hills High School. Her reassignment and later promotion did not harm her employment, Pittman ruled.
Abbas previously said Alzubi and her attorneys disagreed with the July decision.
Alzubi alleged that FWISD violated her First Amendment guarantee of free speech and 14th Amendment equal protection rights by reassigning her after Alzubi drew online backlash for her social media posts about Palestinians, Black Lives Matter, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, Islam and the district’s COVID-19 mask policy.
The reassignment was necessary for the safety of Alzubi and Western Hills staff after she received threatening messages, the district’s attorneys asserted in July.
The Fort Worth Report filed a records request for those messages. The district estimated Friday it would cost $197 to produce them, citing 13 hours of labor to review, redact and compile the records.
Alzubi also sued FWISD Superintendent Peter Licata and chief of staff Louis Kushner individually. Pittman said neither could be held personally responsible since the district did not violate her rights.
Alzubi’s promotion came with a $130,000 salary, nearly $10,000 more than the principal salary, according to court documents.
Pittman described the dismissal as a matter of judicial restraint. He wrote that federal courts should be hesitant to insert themselves into school administration.
“Despite the temptation to do so, the last thing our republic needs is an unelected lawyer in a black robe interfering without cause in basic personnel decisions by our local school districts,” he wrote.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 1:23 p.m. Aug. 28 to include statements from Fort Worth ISD spokesperson Evan Anderson and Gadeir Abbas, deputy director of litigation for the Council of American-Islamic Relations.
Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez.
Disclosure: FWISD manager Pete Geren leads the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, a financial supporter of the Fort Worth Report. FWISD manager Laurie George is a member of the Report’s reader advisory council. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
