Judge W. Scott Hardy
PITTSBURGH - The former leader of a Pennsylvania school board has lost his federal lawsuit alleging political retaliation for attempting to oust another member over controversial comments posted to Facebook.
Pittsburgh federal judge W. Scott Hardy on May 23 threw out claims against the Westmoreland County Republican Committee and Robert Wayman, who were alleged to have taken unfair measures to avoid giving an endorsement to plaintiff Brian Carlton for his re-election campaign.
Carlton was president of the Norwin School Board and voted to kick Wayman off the board in 2020. Allegedly, Wayman promised revenge on those who voted against him, and the motion to remove him failed.
Afterward, he allegedly orchestrated a letter that kept Carlton from attending WCRC events, which made him ineligible for an endorsement. Carlton lost his 2021 re-election campaign.
All that remained of Carlton's lawsuit after the Norwin School Board was removed as a defendant were claims the WCRC retaliated against him for exercising his free speech rights and libel against Wayman. Hardy's ruling tosses both, though Carlton can refile the libel claim in state court.
The free speech retaliation claim came under Section 1983 of federal law, which allows for suits against state and local government officials for violating constitutional rights. WCRC successfully argued it is not a "state actor."
"'(M)erely private conduct, no matter how discriminatory or wrongful,' does not fall within the ambit of Section 1983," Hardy wrote, citing a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
That case started in Pennsylvania and made it to the state's highest court, which had to decide if private insurers were liable under Section 1983 for withholding payment for a disputed medical treatment. They weren't.
The "color of state law element is a threshold issue; there is no liability under Section 1983 for those not acting under color of law," the opinion says.
The fireworks started with several Facebook comments by Wayman in 2020 in a private group called "Silent Majority 15642" - a reference to the ZIP code of Irwin and North Huntingdon.
The comments said:
-"Gold Star of David coming to the mask wearers sooner than they realize";
-"Democrats have done more to damage our homeland than the Imperial Japanese and the German Democrats combined. Just say no"; and
-That then-President Donald Trump "needs 8 more years... If need be we can have an armed combat to make sure it happens."
Wayman also referred to then-Health Department assistant secretary Rachel Levine as an "it." Levine is a transgender woman who also served as secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
Carlton wanted an ethics complaint filed against Wayman and moved for him to resign, and more than 260 residents signed a petition that doubted Wayman's mental fitness to serve on the board.
Other motions that failed at the 2020 school board meeting were for a censure and for removal of Wayman from his position as Pennsylvania School Board Association liaison.
Carlton claimed Wayman promised recourse during the meeting and then used his position as treasurer of the WCRC to carry that out. Carlton spoke at a WCRC event in April 2021, and later that month received a letter from an attorney claiming he was prohibited from contacting WCRC or its chairman, Steve Cleaveland.
Carlton alleges Wayman was behind the letter, leading to the WCRC not endorsing him in his unsuccessful 2021 re-election effort.
"The WCRC bylaws cited by Carlton establish that candidate endorsements may be made at a meeting duly called for that purpose, and that the executive board of the WCRC may make recommendations as to proposed endorsements," Hardy wrote.
"(S)imply being subject to state regulation, however, does not transform the WCRC's actions to those of the state."
The libel claim against Wayman stems from a letter sent to Carlton's employer, the Penn Trafford School District, after his re-election loss. It was sent in February 2022 by “Concerned Citizens of Penn Trafford School District" and claimed Carlton slanders people because he is upset about his campaign loss.
It also said he had engaged in "unprofessional and possibly illegal behavior" and that members of the WCRC are afraid to "attend meetings" because of the "violence and threats" he had made.
Carlton alleges Wayman authored and sent the letter. Judge Hardy said he would not exercise jurisdiction over that state law libel claim.
