The Brewer School Department is unlikely to continue fighting a lawsuit from the estate of Shawn McBreairty now that the trangender student at the center of it has graduated, the department’s lawyer said during a hearing Wednesday.
The federal hearing was to discuss if Judge Lance Walker should grant a request to allow a post McBreairty wrote that featured the transgender student to be republished. During the hearing, Brewer School Department attorney Melissa Hewey said the schools have “no dog in the fight, so to speak,” because the student graduated.
It’s a sign that the lawsuit could be heading to its end, if the school no longer plans to fight the publication of the photo. It comes almost two months after a lawsuit filed by a student against the school department over its transgender policy was dismissed.
“The only reason the school department took the action it did was because it felt it had an obligation under state law to address the bullying,” Hewey said. “[It] has no standing to complain about an article about somebody who is not a student in the school.”
In February, local activist McBreairty published an online post about girls’ bathrooms not being safe if males are present. It had a picture of students in a Brewer High School bathroom, including a transgender student.
After it was published, the Brewer School Department requested McBreairty remove three parts of the article, including the picture.
He then sued the school department, alleging the school violated his First Amendment rights by alluding to taking legal action against McBreairty in U.S. District Court in Bangor. The lawsuit also includes Superintendent Gregg Palmer, Brewer High School Principal Brent Slowikowski and teacher Michelle MacDonald.
McBreairty, 53, died June 3. His wife, Patricia McBreairty, is continuing the lawsuit as the representative of his estate.
Both sides have two weeks to reach an agreement to let the judge know if they agree to dismiss the request for a preliminary injunction. If they cannot, Walker said he will start drafting an opinion on the request.
Patricia McBreairty will republish the article, attorney Marc Randazza said. If the school is truly waiving all claims around the article, then the injunction is not needed, he said.
