Law & Courts News in Brief

Punished Student Retweets Snoop Dogg; Claims Retaliation in Suit Against District

By Benjamin Herold — February 13, 2018 1 min read
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A California high school student is suing her district, claiming that she was harassed by a school employee and cut from the basketball team over her personal social-media activity—including a retweet of celebrity musician Snoop Dogg.

The vice principal and girls’ basketball coach at Sierra High School in Fresno, Calif., allegedly targeted senior Racquel Alec in order to “intentionally humiliate her, discriminate against her, or keep her from playing on the girls’ basketball team for the 2016-2017 season,” according to the suit.

At issue: Alec’s “likes” and retweets of “photographs of musical artists or celebrities on her private social-media page, such as Snoop Dog [sic] holding, what appeared to be, a marijuana joint in his hand.”

An investigation conducted by the 1,300-student Sierra Unified district last spring cleared the vice principal/coach of wrongdoing.

Snoop Dogg weighed in on Instagram last week: “Have her lawyers hit my team this is nonsense.”

A version of this article appeared in the February 14, 2018 edition of Education Week as Punished Student Retweets Snoop Dogg; Claims Retaliation in Suit Against District

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