Mari Oliver, a student at Klein Oak High School in Spring, Tex., chose to sit in 2017 during the daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and as a result she “was harassed, disciplined, and retaliated against,” according to a lawsuit filed on her behalf by American Atheists, a civil rights organization.
Oliver was forced by Benjie Arnold, a 12th-grade sociology teacher at the school, to write out the pledge after her refusal to join in reciting it.
Now, the school district has settled out of court with Oliver, agreeing to pay her $90,000 in restitution.
“The Texas Association of School Boards, a risk pool funded by Texas school districts, has paid $90,000 to resolve the case before trial,” a statement from the boards read.
Oliver, a Black woman, had “exercised her constitutional right to decline to participate in the Pledge out of her objection to the words, ‘Under God,’ and her belief that the United States does not adequately guarantee ‘liberty and justice for all,’ especially for people of color,” according to the suit.
Students are not required to salute the flag or recite the pledge if they deem either to be against their religious beliefs, according to a 1943 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. In addition, any parent or guardian can opt their children out of standing for and saying the pledge at any Texas public or charter school under state law.
But despite Oliver’s mother making the request in writing, the suit alleges Oliver was still harassed, which led to her mother homeschooling her.
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