NJ school district paid former teacher $325K over editing Trump T-shirt in yearbook

A former high school teacher in New Jersey received $325,000 in a settlement after she alleged that her bosses scapegoated and blamed her for editing a “Make America Great Again” shirt out of the school yearbook, NJ Advance Media reported.

Susan Parsons, who has since retired from the Wall Township School District, sued in 2019 claiming that the school district set her up for punishment after a secretary for her school’s principal ordered her to edit out pro-Trump messages. 

The Wall Board of Education approved the settlement and the district made no admission of wrongdoing or liability, the outlet reported. The payment will be made by the district’s insurance carrier.

Parsons will ultimately receive about $204,000 after her attorneys fees are paid, according to the agreement.

The incident, which originally occurred in 2017, made national headlines amid the former president’s first year in office, with several right-leaning news outlets seizing on the story.

One Wall Township High School student had a “TRUMP: Make America Great Again” shirt on in his yearbook photo, and another had a Trump logo on his vest. Both photos showed up in the yearbook without the logos.

Parsons, who was then the yearbook adviser, said she voted for Trump in the 2016 election but removed the Trump logos after being asked.

“That has to go,” the suit claims Parsons was told by a school secretary who reviewed the pages on behalf of the principal.

However, Parsons said she was then suspended with pay after the controversy came to light.

She alleged that the district subjected her to a hostile work environment by barring her from speaking to the media in an attempt to clear her name. She previously received a $25,000 settlement from a lawsuit challenging a district media policy.

The veteran teacher told the New Jersey outlet in 2019 that she faced death threats and hate mail and was afraid to leave her home.

“My life has not been the same,” she said then, “and I don’t think it ever will.”