A deadlocked federal appeals court previously ruled that the lawsuit could not move forward.
The Supreme Court has decided not to revive the stalled lawsuit of a former middle school student who alleged he was bullied for being white and backing President Donald Trump.
The student, Brooks Warden, also identified in court papers as B.W., sued the Austin, Texas, Independent School District in 2020, alleging that in the 8th, 9th, and 10th grades he was “ostracized” and experienced physical and verbal abuse because he was white, Christian, and a Trump supporter.
Warden said he occasionally wore a pro-Trump “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) hat and that he experienced harassment because he was falsely accused of being anti-gay, anti-feminist, and racist.
He said a teacher addressed him as “Whitey” and that a fellow student authored a meme depicting him as a hood-wearing Ku Klux Klansman.
Warden sued, alleging the school district was deliberately indifferent to the bullying, which he said violated Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, a law that forbids racial discrimination in endeavors such as education that benefit from funding from the federal government.
The Supreme Court’s new decision took the form of an unsigned order in B.W. v. Austin Independent School District that was issued on June 30.
No justices dissented. The court did not explain its ruling.
Warden, who describes himself as a “white, Christian male,” filed a petition with the Supreme Court, saying he once donned a MAGA hat during a school field trip.
“This innocent act triggered a years-long campaign of bullying and harassment against him based on his race and political views by both his classmates and teachers.”
Warden filed suit under Title VI, alleging racial harassment.
A federal district court dismissed his legal complaint after accepting a recommendation from a federal magistrate judge.
The recommendation said Warden was subjected to a “handful of vaguely race-related comments” that did “not amount to the ‘severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive’ requirement for a race-based harassment claim under Title VI,” according to the petition.
Magistrate judges are appointed to assist federal district judges.
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed in January 2023, determining that the bulk of the incidents to which Warden referred related to his ideological beliefs, which cannot be used to support a claim of Title VI racial discrimination.
Warden appealed, and the full Fifth Circuit heard the case, deadlocking in November 2024 in a 9–9 vote, which meant the previous ruling remained intact.
