Barrett & Farahany Partner Matthew Billips is representing a former Georgia educator in the federal lawsuit Mickens v. Oglethorpe County School System et al, alleging that the school district violated her First Amendment rights after suspending her for a private social media post made outside of work hours.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, states that the educator, a former Georgia Teacher of the Year finalist with 24 years of teaching experience, posted a quote that involved conservative activist Charlie Kirk on her private Facebook page following his death. The post was limited to her friends and made from her personal computer after work hours. Screenshots of the post were later shared publicly online, prompting calls to the school district.
According to the lawsuit, the educator was placed on indefinite paid suspension pending termination and later informed that she would be terminated if she did not resign. The complaint asserts that her off-duty, personal expression did not violate any school policy and that the district’s actions constitute unconstitutional retaliation for exercising her right to protected speech.
Attorney Billips is serving as co-counsel in the case alongside the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE), the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and Attorney Gerry Weber of The Weber Law Offices.
The lawsuit highlights a broader trend of public employees, including educators, facing discipline for off-duty social media posts, raising significant questions about free speech rights in public employment. The case seeks to protect the constitutional rights of educators and ensure that employees cannot be penalized for private expression unrelated to their professional duties.
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