ACLJ Files Federal Lawsuit Against PA School Agency after Teacher's Aide Suspended for Wearing Cross.

Business Editors/Legal Writers

PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2003

The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm specializing in constitutional law, today filed a federal lawsuit against an educational agency in Western Pennsylvania after officials suspended an employee - a teacher's aide for wearing a cross pendant on her necklace.

"The actions taken by this agency represent a serious violation of our client's constitutional rights," said Vincent McCarthy, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ, which is representing the teacher's aide. "The law is very clear on this issue - school personnel do not shed their constitutional freedoms when they enter the school house door. To punish a teacher's aide for merely expressing her free speech rights is not only wrong, but unconstitutional. We're confident that the court will correct this injustice and protect the First Amendment rights of our client."

The ACLJ today filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, PA on behalf of Brenda Nichol, a teacher's aide from Glen Campbell in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Nichol has been employed 8 years by ARIN Intermediate Unit 28, an agency that provides educational services to school districts in Indiana and Armstrong Counties.

Nichol works as an Instructional Assistant in the Penns Manor Area Elementary School in Clymer, PA and, according to the suit, was notified by ARIN officials last month that a one-and-a-quarter inch cross pendant that she had been wearing on her necklace would either have to be concealed by clothing or removed. ARIN officials contend the cross pendant violates their policy and the state's religious garb prohibition of the Pennsylvania Public School Code that dates back to 1895.

The complaint contends that Nichol told ARIN officials that the cross is a symbol of her religious faith and to remove it or conceal it would violate her religious beliefs. Nichol was initially suspended from her job on April 8th and was notified on April 16th that her suspension would be for one year without pay.

The suit names as defendants ARIN Intermediate Unit 28, its executive director and several other supervisors. The suit contends that the actions of the agency violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and Pennsylvania law including the state's Religious Freedom Protection Act. Nichol also will file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and will pursue charges that the suspension violated federal law.

The suit requests that the court declare ARIN's policy and the state's religious garb prohibition to be unconstitutional and requests that the court issue injunctive relief - prohibiting ARIN from continuing its discriminatory action, restoring Nichol's employment, and removing the suspension from her employment record.

"There is nothing wrong with Brenda Nichol wearing a cross pendant to work," said McCarthy. "This is a legitimate desire to exercise her deeply held religious beliefs in a manner that is consistent with both state and federal law. To be suspended for wearing a cross pendant to work represents religious discrimination that violates the constitutional rights of our client."

The ACLJ is being assisted in the case by attorney Joseph L. Luciana, III of the Pittsburgh firm, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, LLP.

The American Center for Law and Justice is an international public interest law firm specializing in constitutional law and religious liberty work. The ACLJ is headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA and its web site address is www.aclj.org.