Former high school student Mari Oliver, who is Black, had “exercised her constitutional right to decline to participate in the Pledge.”

A Texas teacher who attempted to force a student to write the Pledge of Allegiance has settled a lawsuit with the former high school student for $90,000. American Atheists represented the nonreligious student, confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that the student’s 12th-grade sociology teacher at Klein Oak High School, located in Spring, Texas north of Houston, agreed to settle the case. The Texas Association of School Boards paid the settlement to resolve the case according to NBC News.

“Nonreligious students often face bullying or harassment for expressing their deeply held convictions,” Nick Fish, president of American Atheists, said. “No one should have to endure the years of harassment, disrespect and bullying our client faced. The fact that this happened in a public school and at the hands of staff who should know better is particularly appalling.”

The student identified as Mari Oliver, declined to recite the Pledge of Allegiance during her time in high school. She objected to the words “under God.” The former student cited her “belief that the United States does not adequately guarantee ‘liberty and justice for all,’ especially for people of color,” according to a statement sent to NBC News.

American Atheists says the teacher in the case, identified as Benjie Arnold forced Oliver and other students to write out the pledge in 2017. Then after Oliver refused, he told her she would  fail an assignment. The organization says he also offered to pay students to move abroad if they had criticisms of the United States. However, the students would have to pay him double if they came back to the U.S.

Arnold compared people who wouldn’t say the pledge “to Soviet communists, members of the Islamic faith seeking to impose Sharia law, and those who condone pedophilia” according to the lawsuit filed by Oliver.

The Klein Independent School District sent a statement to USA TODAY  stating  “not enter into any settlement in this matter.” The district also confirmed that Arnold is still employed.

Oliver’s mother first filed a lawsuit against Arnold, the school district and other teachers in 2017. Oliver has since taken over the case. A federal judge in 2020 dismissed the lawsuit against the district and school employees other than Arnold. The Supreme Court  has ruled that students can’t be forced to salute the flag or say the Pledge of Allegiance because it would violate their rights under the First Amendment.

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