Texas student compared to Soviet communist for not saying pledge wins $90K, group says

A Texas high school teacher has agreed to settle a nonreligious student’s federal lawsuit after he was accused of harassing her for not saying the Pledge of Allegiance in class, according to the civil rights organization American Atheists.

In settling, the group says the Texas Association of School Boards paid $90,000 from a “risk pool” on behalf of Benjie Arnold, the former twelfth grade student’s sociology teacher.

The student, identified as M.O. (a minor at the time of filing the 2017 lawsuit) and her mother, LaShan Arceneaux, sued Klein Independent School District, Arnold and other individuals. They were accused of harassing the student because she sat for the Pledge of Allegiance or failing to “take adequate measures to protect her rights.”

The lawsuit was dismissed Feb. 8, prior to a court trial, following an “amicable settlement,” according to court records in the Southern District of Texas.

A spokesperson with Klein Independent School District said the district did not enter into any settlement in connection to the lawsuit. The defense attorney representing Arnold did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.

Arnold is still listed as a social studies teacher at Klein Oak High School. Some local outlets including KHOU11 reported that he is a “former” teacher at the school.

“Nonreligious students often face bullying or harassment for expressing their deeply held convictions,” Nick Fish, president of American Atheists, said in a March 29 news release. “No one should have to endure the years of harassment, disrespect, and bullying our client faced. The fact that this happened in a public school and at the hands of staff who should know better is particularly appalling.

“After nearly five years of litigation, (Arnold) finally made the only smart decision and agreed to settle this case.”

A 1943 Supreme Court ruling established that students have First Amendment rights when refusing to salute the American flag or recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

The legal team representing the student says she had “respectfully” sat out of the Pledge of Allegiance hundreds of times from when she started high school in 2014 to when the lawsuit was filed Oct. 24, 2017.

During those years, attorneys say she was bullied by classmates and harassed by teachers and administrative staff. She was reportedly written up, sent to the principal’s office, had her phone confiscated and felt forced to switch out of a class due to not standing for the pledge.

Following various incidents reported in the lawsuit, Arceneaux took her daughter out of school early 2017 and began homeschooling her, according to the lawsuit.

But following a change of principal in summer 2017, the teen returned to Klein Oak High School on Aug. 21 of that year.

While in Arnold’s sociology class on Aug. 24, he told students “that sitting for the Pledge was a privilege, not a right, and that people who sit for the Pledge are unappreciative and disrespectful, stating that all they do is take from society,” according to court records.

The next month, attorneys say Arnold played “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen and instructed students to write “how the song made them feel.”

“He then gave the students a timed assignment to write down the words to the Pledge of Allegiance, indicating that, because it was written, the students were not actually pledging allegiance to the country,” according to the lawsuit, and the student refused to do so.

The next day, though, the lawsuit says Arnold said anyone who did not complete the assignment would get a zero. He also “compared people who refuse to say the Pledge to Soviet communists, members of the Islamic faith seeking to impose Sharia law, and those who condone pedophilia,” according to the lawsuit.

American Atheists argue Arnold retaliated against the student by subjecting her to harsher treatment, berating her for wrong answers, calling her out when he couldn’t “see her eyes” and having her move her desk to the middle of an aisle.

Arnold is the only defendant listed in the settlement, according to American Atheists.

“The classroom is not a pulpit. It is a place of education, not indoctrination,” Geoffrey T. Blackwell, litigation counsel at American Atheists, said in a news release. “This settlement serves as a reminder that students do not lose their First Amendment rights when they enter the classroom.”

Klein Independent School District is located about 30 miles north of Houston.