Judges ruled against the estate of Shawn McBreairty in two different lawsuits in the past week, though his widow could continue fighting one of the cases.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court denied an appeal from the estate of the conservative activist on Tuesday, while a federal judge declined to grant an order for a preliminary injunction to allow a controversial post from McBreairty to be republished on Friday.
The rulings are the latest in ongoing court cases involving McBreairty, who died June 3, 2024. Prior to his death, he was embroiled in multiple lawsuits with school departments in the Bangor area. His widow, Patricia McBreairty, continued both lawsuits.
McBreairty brought one lawsuit against the Brewer School Department in 2024 after it said “further action” would be taken if he did not delete an online post he published in February that included a picture of a transgender student in a Brewer High School bathroom.
McBreairty took down the post and then filed a lawsuit against the school.
Because the student graduated in 2024, the school department’s lawyer said in “blunt, open-court representation” in December that the department has no desire to continue the threat of legal action if the article is republished.
However, before republishing the post, the estate still requested a preliminary injunction, which requires it to prove “imminently threatened injury.”
Between McBreairty’s death and the student’s graduation, there is no need for the injunction, Judge Lance Walker said in a ruling Friday.
Patricia McBreairty can continue the lawsuit, if she chooses.
The Brewer School Department has no comment, Superintendent Gregg Palmer said. The lawyer for McBreairty’s estate did not respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, the Hermon School Department filed a lawsuit in 2022 in Penobscot County Superior Court alleging McBreairty made false and defamatory statements against the teacher, including calling the teacher a “sexual predator” and “head of the hypersexualization movement” in statements on social media, his podcast, local radio and in a letter to the school department.
McBreairty claimed the lawsuit violated Maine’s anti-SLAPP statute and asked a judge to dismiss it. SLAPP stands for strategic lawsuits against public participation that are generally aimed at silencing criticism.
The judge denied the motion to dismiss and McBreairty appealed the decision to the state’s highest court. A year after the issue was argued, the high court found the appeal and the original lawsuit moot Tuesday in a memorandum of decision.
Hermon schools only asked for a ruling that personally impacts McBreairty, which cannot happen after his death.
The interim superintendent for the Hermon School Department did not respond to a request for comment.
The supreme court remanded the case back to the superior court to dismiss the case.
