Trump Derangement Syndrome in a California Classroom

Trump derangement syndrome clearly took hold in the San Gabriel Unified School District where a teacher’s aide was badgered, harassed and then fired for bringing her Trump-themed knapsack and water bottle to school.

Now, Alyssa Esquivel, a sign language interpreter for deaf students, is suing the School District for violating her First Amendment rights.  The federal lawsuit also charges religious discrimination because the principal of the school where she worked berated her for reading religious books during her free time.

Esquivel is being represented by the Murrieta-based public interest law firm Advocates for Faith and Freedom.

Advocates for Faith and Freedom lawyer Julianne Fleischer told the California Globe that, “Our schools should be a place in which the marketplace of ideas is encouraged and safeguarded. Teachers do not lose their First Amendment rights when they enter the schoolhouse gates, and the District’s attempt to censor a viewpoint it does not like violates the protections afforded by the First Amendment.”

The lawsuit was filed earlier this year in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. It charges violation of Esquivel’s First Amendment rights, illegal discrimination based on religion in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, as well as violation of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act that prohibits religious discrimination.

It says  officials at the Del Mar High School first targeted Esquivel for her religious beliefs and then escalated the grudge match when other staffers started to complain about her Trump apparel. “Multiple District employees made disparaging remarks regarding Ms. Esquivel’s Christian faith, including one District employee who told her to “tone” it down with her “faith beliefs.”

The school principal “told her to put her religious books away while she was reading them on a work break. Following these remarks about her faith, the District refused to address Ms. Esquivel’s reports of her colleagues’ disparaging comments about her Trump-themed backpack and water bottle. “

The defendants in the lawsuit are Del Mar High School Principal Muhammad Abdul-Qawi, San Gabriel Unified School District Superintendent James Symonds and Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Ross Perry.

In a pro forma response to the lawsuit filed last week, the District denied that it violated Esquivel’s First Amendment rights and insisted it had legitimate non-discriminatory reasons for all adverse employment actions it took.  The District also said telling Esquivel not to read religious books on her own time was really no big deal and just a minor inconvenience that did not substantially burden her religious freedom.

“Plaintiff fails to demonstrate that these Answering Defendants burdened the practice of her religion by preventing her from engaging in conduct mandated by her faith. In order to reach the level of a constitutional violation, the interference with one’s practice of religion must be more than an inconvenience; the burden must be substantial and an interference with a tenet or belief that is central to the religious Doctrine.”

Esquivel had worked for the District as a sign language interpreter since 2022 and always received good performance reviews. But things started to change in June 2023 when staffers took exception to the religious books she was reading on her own time at Del Mar High School.

 “Sometime in early June 2023, after seeing some of Ms. Esquivel’s religious books while she was on her break, lead teacher [Mike} Williams told Ms. Esquivel to “tone it down with [her] faith beliefs,” the complaint reads. “Again, in early June 2023, Principal Abdul-Qawi, after seeing Ms. Esquivel reading one of her religious books on her break, told her to hide her religious books out of sight.”

Things really escalated when other school aides started freaking out over Esquivel’s water bottle with a sticker of Trump’s face on it. No students took exception to the bottle–only the staffers objected.

On June 15, classroom aide Eugenia Dana, who had been insulting Esquivel, “moved Ms. Esquivel’s water bottle (which sported several stickers depicting presidents, including one of former-President Trump)  to a location out of Ms. Esquivel’s reach. “

When Esquivel objected, Dana told her in front of students to “shut up.”

Dana said she did not want Trump looking at her and another classroom aide, Jennifer Drake told Esquivel, “I asked you not to bring in the Trump stuff.”

“No student had commented or complained about Ms. Esquivel’s water bottle,” the lawsuit notes.

The next day Dana, in the throes of Trump derangement syndrome, threw a temper tantrum and flipped over the desk where Esquivel was keeping the water bottle. It was a shared desk where staffers left their stuff.

Throwing files around, Dana yelled that Esquivel was “not going to put it [the water bottle] on my desk and taunt me with him [Donald Trump].”

Dana was not disciplined for her temper tantrum. But school authorities came  down harder on Esquivel. On July 5, “Principal Abdul-Qawi directed Ms. Esquivel not to display her Trump-themed backpack and water bottle in public. This was in reference to Ms. Esquivel’s souvenir backpack that bore “T-R-U-M-P” lettering over an American flag background.”

But Esquivel would not budge.  She “continued to bring her Trump-themed water bottle and backpack with her to school campus believing she had a First Amendment right to do so. “

On July 11, 2023, District’s Human Resources Superintendent Ross Perry emailed Esquivel and told her that bringing the Trump apparel to school violated California Education Code section 7054  that says, “No school district or community college district funds, services, supplies, or equipment shall be used for the purpose of urging the support or defeat of any ballot measure or candidate, including, but not limited to, any candidate for election to the governing board of the district.”

Esquivel’s lawsuit contends this provision did not apply to her because at  no point in time during her employment with the District did Ms. Esquivel use district funds, services, supplies, or equipment for the purpose of urging the support or defeat of any candidate” and neither the backpack nor water bottle contained messages of support or opposition for a political candidate.

So after reaching this conclusion with her lawyers Esquivel returned to school with the knapsack and water bottle.

District Human Resources Assistant Superintendent Ross Perry then threatened her with fines and imprisonment for having the apparel. He then had her escorted off campus by the police.

She was placed on paid administrative leave and barred from returning to campus.  She heard nothing from the District until February 20, 2024 when she received notices she was being suspended and threatened with dismissal for alleged improper political activity and insubordination.

Two days later, she received another letter from the District that cited her for allegedly violating a different state regulation they had not previously mentioned: District Regulation District Regulation 4219.25 which says that District employees in classrooms can not provide viewpoints on one candidate without giving viewpoints on his opponent and that they can not wear “buttons  or articles of clothing that express political opinions on ballot measures or candidates during instructional time.”

On September 20, 2024, the District formally fired Esquivel.

Her lawsuit says that Regulation 4219.25 does not apply to her and that her expressive activity on public matters  as a private citizen is protected by the First Amendment.  The distinction is crucial because established law says that the speech of public employees can be limited if they are speaking in their official capacity.

“Ms. Esquivel had no official duty to utilize a Trump-themed water bottle or backpack, and neither were required to perform her job. The District did not issue or pay for Ms. Esquivel’s backpack and water bottle,” the lawsuit argues.  “The District’s directive that Ms. Esquivel not bring her Trump-themed backpack and water bottle to campus or otherwise display these items censored Ms. Esquivel’s speech by prohibiting her from speaking on matters of public concern as a private citizen.”

Moreover, “District Regulation 4219.25 does not prohibit employees from engaging in all political activity and it does not prohibit employees from bringing or displaying personal items, like a backpack, that contain political expression on campus.”

Esquivel, who has since found another job, told the California Globe that when staffers first complained about the water bottle she was “shocked” they were focusing on that item instead of the students. “I was very upset and felt I was being singled out for showing support for my country.”

Asked how she felt about how the District treated her,  she said, “They were infringing on my constitutional rights.”

San Gabriel Unified School District Superintendent James Symonds did not reply to a request for comment.