Teacher loses free speech claims vs. school district

BALTIMORE — A Maryland courthouse dismissed a government teacher’s First Amendment retaliation claims against his former employer, which allegedly disciplined him for showing clips from the Steven Spielberg film “Amistad” and videos of police brutality to students. Because he is a public employee, he is not guaranteed unrestrained freedom of speech nor academic decisions on materials to share with the class; his disability discrimination claim will proceed, however, as he plausibly argued his reasonable requests for accommodations related to stress were denied.