Colorado school accused of firing teacher over 'racist undertones' after calling US 'the greatest country in the world'

A Colorado middle school dean who was allegedly fired after expressing his pride in being an American during diversity training is now suing the district for violating his rights.

According to America First Legal (AFL), which filed the lawsuit, it all started in January when her client made comments during a mandatory training program that did not sit well with others.

Participants were asked to discuss what it means to them to be “white” and how they identify with it.

Patrick Hogarty, who was then dean of Campus Middle School in the Cherry Creek School District in Aurora, Colorado, “responded by saying that he identifies as an American and believes that the United States is the greatest country in the world.”

According to the AFL, Hogarty was under the impression that anything he said during training would be kept confidential and would not affect his work. Still, the AFL said, the school district's equity director reported what he said to the principal and allegedly accused Hogarty of expressing “racist undertones.”

In March, Hogarty was fired for “budgetary reasons,” which the AFL said contradicted “district records showing increased staffing levels” for the same year.

“The Cherry Creek School District blatantly violated our client's First Amendment rights when they fired him because his pride in the United States of America was inconsistent with the district's political ideology that America is a systematically racist nation,” AFL senior advisor Ian Prior said in a statement.

“Like other school districts across the country, Cherry Creek has replaced the Bill of Rights with the 'DEI Manifesto,' and teachers, students and parents are being silenced for standing up for the values ​​that make America great.”

AFL and Hogarty demand that Cherry Creek “rehire Mr. Hogarty with back pay,” the complaint states. They also seek payment to cover damages and require the district to “revise its employment policies to explicitly protect the First Amendment rights of its employees.”

At the time of this writing, the school district had not yet responded to the lawsuit.