Lawsuit: Colorado teacher claims he was fired because he identified as a proud American

A teacher is suing after he was allegedly fired for refusing to accept his district’s “anti-white and anti-American agenda.”

Patrick Hogarty was an educator and dean of students at Campus Middle School in the Cherry Creek School District in Colorado for nearly 20 years

According to his lawsuit, his job required him to attend “Courageous Conversations” training, which focused on “equity and the disruption of whiteness,” as well as monthly “Equity Pods” and meetings between district deans that focused on race, inequality and ” “systemic oppression.”

At one such training on January 18, participants were asked to define “whiteness” and explain how they identified themselves.

“Hogarty told the group that he identifies as an American,” the lawsuit says, “that he loves his country and that he believes it is the greatest country ever founded.”

The district’s equity director later complained to the principal that Hogarty did not understand “what people of color go through” and that America is “systematically racist.”

On March 1, Hogarty was fired for alleged financial reasons.

However, Cherry Creek’s budget for full-time employees in 2024-25 is actual increased from the previous year.

So Hogarty is suing the district for violating his constitutional rights.

“The Cherry Creek School District blatantly violated our client’s First Amendment rights when he was terminated because his pride in the United States of America was inconsistent with the district’s political ideology that America is a systematically racist nation,” said Ian Prior, a senior counsel at America First Legal, who is representing the teacher.

“We are proud to stand up for all teachers across America who are being unfairly persecuted for daring to question a government-sponsored orthodoxy that teaches hatred of America and seeks to punish people based on their views and to marginalize their skin color.”

The lawsuit filed Wednesday lists the Cherry Creek school board, superintendent, middle school principal, human resources director and equity director as defendants.

Not long after Hogarty’s firing, Campus Middle School hosted an LGBTQ+ “Day of Silence,” complete with a promotional video, “solidarity” activities and related merchandise.