A Beverly Hills history teacher suffered panic attacks, nausea, and physical tremors after she was fired for posting anti-Trump rhetoric on Facebook after a MAGA rally at the school, according to a new lawsuit.
Harvard graduate and 30-year Beverly Hills Unified teaching veteran Joanie Garratt was ousted days after the 2024 election over a social media post blasting Trump supporters who held a victory rally at the high school, according to court papers.
Students wore MAGA hats and Trump gear and waved flags, while some allegedly targeted the Black Student Union with racial slurs and made remarks including “deport all Mexicans,” the suit, obtained by the California Post, claimed.
Garratt, an AP history substitute teacher, condemned the behavior as “bullying” online, alleging students “harassed & intimidated” classmates and blamed the conduct on “His Majesty, King Trump.”
Garratt was fired on November 13, 2024 by Mathew Horvath, an assistant superintendent who told her “the school didn’t want her back in the classroom due to her Facebook Post and terminated her,” according to the lawsuit.
Garratt claims the firing caused severe emotional distress, sleeplessness, nausea, weight loss, tremors, humiliation and “irreparable harm to her reputation.”
The suit cites BHUSD policy stating employees cannot be disciplined for personal beliefs or activities unless they violate the law or district rules.
Garratt, who filed a wrongful termination claim shortly after her firing, is seeking general and special damages and is represented by attorney V. James DeSimone.
“Joanie’s post, which criticized harassment at the rally and attributed student conduct to political rhetoric whipped up as part of Donald Trump’s re-election strategy, is constitutionally protected speech,” DeSimone told The Post.
The Beverly Hills High School Unified School District was contacted by The Post for comment.
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