A Utica High School student has filed a federal lawsuit against the North Fork Local School District, claiming he was suspended from sports for using an American flag to wipe the visor of his football helmet during a game.
Kelly and Kris Cooper, the student’s parents, filed the suit on behalf of their son, identified in the filing only as S.C. and described as biracial.
Named as defendants are members of the North Fork Local School District Board of Education: Farrah Cooperider, Bernard Snow, Barbara Bruce, Andy Hollenback and Deb Paxton; North Fork Local School District Superintendent Scott Hartley; Utica High School Principal Mark Bowman; and Utica High School Athletic Director Brian Radabaugh.
The lawsuit stems from an incident that occurred last Sept. 11 during the fourth quarter of a game against Northridge High School. S.C., a junior member of the football team, left the field after a play and was on the sideline.
“Due to health restrictions from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, football teams in the area were not permitted to provide common towels for the players’ use,” the lawsuit stated. “As a result, when S.C. left the field, with his one personal towel soiled from game play, he was unable to find a usable towel to wipe his visor.”
An American flag was propped up by a medical supply table.
“S.C. reached out, grasped the flag and briefly used it to clear the fog from his helmet visor,” the lawsuit said. “He made the decision to use the flag in that manner because he did not consider the flag to be a sacred object of national pride that should be used only as a symbol of affirmative patriotism.”
No one reprimanded S.C. during the game for his use of the flag. However, that night after the game, a cheerleader criticized S.C. on Facebook for wiping his visor with the flag, the lawsuit said.
“Disrespecting our country and what millions of people have fought for our own freedom to honor that flag each and every day of our lives is crossing the line for me, even on 9-11," the lawsuit quoted the cheerleader's post. "I cannot believe this boy had the audacity to do such a disgusting thing in front of our entire stadium.”
The day after the game, S.C. was suspended from extracurricular activities for “conduct unbecoming of a Utica football player,” the lawsuit said.
The document goes on to list other instances of alleged racial discrimination against S.C., the only player of color on the football team. Kelly Cooper had written a letter of complaint to the coaches about the alleged use of racial slurs by teammates toward S.C. and black players from other teams. S.C. also was allegedly suspended for a verbal altercation with a white teammate, who was not disciplined.
Shortly after officials suspended him from the team for the Sept. 11 flag incident, S.C. found a threatening note with a racial slur left in his car as he drove to school.
Prior to the flag incident, S.C. had knelt during “The Star Spangled Banner” before a game. The suit suggests his suspension for handling the flag could be retaliation for expressing his political views by kneeling. According to the court documents, Principal Mark Bowman had been critical in a 2016 Facebook post of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick for kneeling during the national anthem.
Just days after the Sept. 11 flag incident involving S.C. (and just a few weeks after he knelt during the anthem), Bowman re-posted his criticism of Kaepernick, allegedly stating, “4 years ago I wrote this. I thought it was needed. Seems more needed now."
The lawsuit links S.C.’s kneeling for the anthem to the suspension for allegedly mishandling the flag. “Had S.C. acted in a way that was consistent with the personal political views of Defendants, however, they would not have deemed him in violation of Rule 11B in the Student Activities Code of Conduct,” the suit alleged.
The lawsuit seeks an order against the school district to "cease its pattern of discriminatory discipline" and unspecified monetary damages to be determined at trial.
Superintendent Hartley told the Mount Vernon News via email: "We’re studying the allegations of the suit and don’t comment on pending litigation, so we have no comment."
Attempts to reach other school officials as well as Kelly and Kris Cooper have been unsuccessful.
