A teacher in Union Township in Union County, New Jersey, who faced tenure charges over her anti-gay postings on Facebook can proceed with her civil rights suit against the school district, a federal judge in Newark has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty of the District of New Jersey granted the school district’s motion to dismiss three counts and part of a fourth, but denied the district’s motion to dismiss six other counts. The judge rejected the school district’s claim brought under the Younger v. Harris abstention doctrine, which requires federal courts to refrain from interfering with pending state-court proceedings, reasoning that the tenure charge brought by the district in state court was settled long ago.
