A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling against a former Marshall Middle School principal. Last week, the Eighth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected claims that Marshall Public Schools violated Mary Kay Thomas’s First Amendment rights.

In an opinion filed August 26, a panel of three judges ruled Thomas was acting as a public employee, and not a private citizen, when she she took actions like creating an inclusivity display that included a rainbow LGBTQ pride flag.

Thomas had sued the MPS district and the school board in 2021, claiming that MPS retaliated against her when she was reassigned from MMS principal to a special projects coordinator. The lawsuit alleged that the school district’s actions came after Thomas refused to take down the LGBTQ pride flag from a display in the middle school cafeteria, and showed support for a student Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA).

In October 2024, U.S. District Court Judge Patrick J. Schiltz ruled that Thomas’s claims of being discriminated against for advocating for LGBTQ students did not fall under the scope of the Civil Rights Act. Schiltz dismissed the claims.

Thomas appealed the ruling. The appeal argued that Thomas was speaking as a private citizen when she showed support for LGBTQ students.

The U.S Court of Appeals opinion said Thomas needed to show that her speech was made as a citizen, rather than as part of her official duties. However, Thomas used school resources to buy the flags in the display, directed custodial staff to hang the flags, and refused requests to put up additional flags with different viewpoints, the opinion said. The judges’ opinion said Thomas also used school resources and her authority as school principal to help create the GSA student organization.

The opinion also said Thomas failed to prove that her community outreach to support LGBTQ students influenced the school district’s decision to remove her as principal.

The judges ruled that they would uphold the district court’s judgment in the lawsuit.