A long-time physical education teacher for Hartford Public Schools (HPS) has filed a federal lawsuit against the district after he was disciplined and threatened with termination after “voicing a skeptical opinion when asked to share his thoughts about a mandatory ‘privilege’ training,” according to a press release from the Fairness Center, a nonprofit law firm that represented Grande in his complaint against the Harford Federation of Teachers.

John Grande, a teacher for HPS for 35 years, is claiming his First Amendment rights were violated and that the district fabricated evidence against him and forced him to undergo sensitivity training following a comment he made during a mandatory Identity and Privilege training via Zoom. 

According to the lawsuit, during a breakout session, Grande was asked for his opinion, to which he replied: “I was just man-bashed and white-shamed. I’m just going to sit here quietly,” and later that he “wasn’t buying into this white-bashing BS,” according to the lawsuit. 

The PowerPoint presentation on identity and privilege says that during the breakout session it is okay “to feel discomfort,” and that participants should “agree to disagree respectfully.”

“This exercise is not meant to make anyone feel guilty or ashamed of having or not having privilege, but rather to explore how we ALL have SOME privilege, and therefore to also explore how to engage that aspect of our life,” the presentation says.

Grande subsequently questioned the training in a follow-up survey, saying it was a way for Superintendent Leslie Torres- Rodriguez to use critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion principles to advance her career, according to the complaint, but had little to do with actual teaching.

“Over the last several years, the Superintendent, with the backing and approval of the Board, has instituted or enforced policies, procedures, and customs to advance critical race theory in Hartford Public Schools, and to force employees like Mr. Grande to acquiesce to that theory,” the complaint states.

Grande was subsequently investigated by the school for the comments he made during the breakout session, with Director of Arts and Wellness for HPS Tracy Avicolli, who had facilitated the training, accusing him of “inappropriate and aggressive comments” and indicating that Grande was under investigation in an email sent to everyone who was part of the breakout session except him.

Grande claims that the subsequent investigation, which was revealed to him months later, contained misrepresentations, false statements attributed to him and “coached” comments from two other participants. 

Grande claims he was forced to take a leave of absence due to the stress of the situation and when he returned, he received a pre-disciplinary hearing, a letter of reprimand and a termination threat because his behavior did not “reflect positive social values,” that will reflect negatively on his students and colleagues. He was required to take sensitivity training.

“I was targeted for punishment by school district administrators because I refused to endorse their agenda to push critical race theory on teachers,” Grande said in a press release. “They launched a witch hunt against me and ran a kangaroo court to convict me for exercising my free speech rights. They threatened my career to silence me, but with this lawsuit, I’m leveling the playing field and forcing school officials to answer for trampling my rights.”

Reached for comment, the Hartford BOE Communications Director Jesse Sugarman said Hartford Public Schools remain “committed to creating safe spaces and robust professional learning opportunities regardless of staff background, beliefs or ideology.”

“While we respect the right for all to seek representation, we disagree with the allegations included in said lawsuit,” Sugarman wrote in an email, adding he could not comment further because it was pending litigation.

This is not Grande’s first federal lawsuit against Hartford Public School. Grande and the district reached a settlement in a libel case he brought claiming the school principal defamed him by accusing him of threatening behavior. 

Grande also successfully argued and won a labor board decision against the Hartford Federation of Teachers (HFT) when they refused to represent him in a grievance arbitration against the school over his discipline related to the identity and privilege training because he was no longer a dues-paying union member. HFT eventually did seek arbitration, but it was too late under the provisions of the contract.

The lawsuit seeks to remove the letter of reprimand from Grande’s file, restore his paid time off, monetary damages for interference and deprivation of his First Amendment rights and for the court to declare “that the Defendants practice of requiring support of and/or punishing disagreement with their policies on race and in advancement of critical race theory violates Mr. Grande’s rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.” 

“Defendants were aware of and informed of Mr. Grande’s constitutional rights to express opinions different from their own, and therefore were motivated by evil motive or intent, or acted with reckless or callous indifference to Mr. Grande’s constitutional rights when they violated, misrepresented, and interfered with his constitutional rights,” the complaint says.

Grande is being represented by the Fairness Center and Rep. Craig Fishbein, R-Wallingford, who is an attorney.

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