A former Palatine High School teacher will be allowed to continue with her defamation lawsuit against a Palatine High School board member and Black Lives Matter activist, as she seeks a court order requiring the BLM protest organizer to pay for allegedly accusing her of racism, leading to her termination last summer.
On June 25, Cook County Judge Jerry Esrig rejected an attempt by defendant Tim McGowan to toss the lawsuit filed against him by Jeanne Hedgepeth.
“There was no victory for the defendant here, at all,” said Hedgepeth’s attorney Joel Handler. “Our case is alive and growing.”
Hedgepeth had filed suit against McGowan in Cook County Circuit Court in March, accusing him of smearing her reputation and of allegedly organizing a campaign to get her fired from the teaching job she had held in Township High School District 211 in northwest suburban Palatine for two decades.
According to the complaint, McGowan helped to organize antiracism protests in Palatine, under the banner of Black Lives Matter.
According to published reports, at the time of the protests, Hedgepeth allegedly posted a message to her personal Facebook page, responding to the protests by saying, in part: “I find the term ‘white privilege’ as racist as the ‘N’ word. You have not walked in my shoes either so do not make assumptions about me and my so called privilege. You think America is racist? Then you have been hoodwinked by the white liberal establishment and race baiters like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.”
According to the complaint, McGowan then targeted Hedgepeth, beginning with a video posted to Facebook on June 15, 2020. In that video, McGowan allegedly falsely accused Hedgepeth of a number of allegedly racist acts.
Among these, McGowan allegedly said Hedgepeth had:
- Encouraged white students at Palatine High School to disrespect Black students;’
- “Encouraged a white student … to disrespect an Indian student in her classroom;”
- “Allowed a white student to get up and say, ‘I’m glad Donald Trump was elected so he could figure out a way to get rid of these ragheads;’”
- “Was destroying lives and validating ignorant little white boys and discouraging a brown lady;” and
- “Has dramatically disturbed students at Palatine High School.”
In her complaint, Hedgepeth asserted District 211 acted in response to “McGowan’s false and defamatory statements.”
In response, McGowan sought to dismiss the lawsuit.
In the fall of 2020, McGowan was easily elected to the District 211 school board, thanks to strong support from the teachers’ union that represents teachers at Palatine High School. The union donated thousands of dollars to McGowan’s campaign.
To attempt to raise money to help Hedgepeth support her household financially as she continues her lawsuit, friends of Hedgepeth attempted to organize a GoFundMe page.
GoFundMe, however, abruptly shut that page down, five weeks after it went live. GoFundMe claimed the page violated its terms of service, but refused to explain which terms of service it violated, or why it was selected for review, after five weeks of collecting donations.
All donations were refunded, GoFundMe said.
David Prichard, who identifies himself as a friend and supporter of Hedgepeth's, has since moved the fundraising campaign to another crowdfunding site, GiveSendGo.
In the June 25 ruling, Judge Esrig refused to dismiss Hedgepeth’s defamation count. The judge ordered Hedgepeth to replead her claims that McGowan improperly interfered with her business relationship at District 211, leading to her termination.
Handler said that count will be amended.
The judge further ordered both parties to begin written discovery.