Judge tosses lawsuit against Norwin, former superintendent; director vows to file amended complaint

A federal judge dismissed a Norwin School Board director’s lawsuit against the former superintendent and the district.

U.S. Judge Scott Hardy in Pittsburgh ruled that Alex Detschelt failed to state a claim for which the court can grant relief.

Detschelt, of North Huntingdon, filed the lawsuit after he was censured by the board for his October 2022 social media post using a meme targeting then Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. The meme used a sexually explicit word and a derisive term for a person with a mental illness.

A few days after Detschelt’s post, former superintendent Jeffrey Taylor issued a news release and an emailed statement to about 7,700 Norwin community members, stating the district did not condone his use of the words “that offended many people in the community.” The board voted to censure Detschelt a few days later.

The judge, however, gave Detschelt the right to file an amended complaint in the case against Taylor by June 20. In the 26-page ruling on Thursday, Hardy gave Detschelt the right to raise the issue of whether Taylor had qualified immunity as a public official when the superintendent issued a statement criticizing Detschelt’s meme, stating it did not reflect the district’s values.

The judge dismissed Detschelt’s claim for punitive damages from Taylor.

If Detschelt fails to meet the filing deadline, the judge stated he would rule that Detschelt cannot refile a lawsuit on the same issue.

Detschelt, an attorney representing himself, said Friday he plans to file an amended complaint by the deadline and “will maintain that Dr. Taylor did not have qualified immunity in retaliating against me.”

Norwin’s solicitor Russell Lucas could not be reached for comment Friday. Taylor, who took a job as assistant superintendent at the Carlynton School District in Crafton in 2024, also could not be reached for comment.

While Detschelt maintained in his August 2023 complaint against Norwin and Taylor that the censure was a retaliatory act for his protected speech as a private citizen, the judge maintained that the censure was not a threat, an intimidation or a coercion. A censure against a public official for speech “can’t support a First Amendment retaliatory claim,” the judge stated.

In a footnote in the ruling, Hardy stated that Norwin’s response to Detschelt’s use of language it considered offensive ”seems to have been mild indeed.”

As a result of Norwin’s action against him, Detschelt claimed he suffered “severe emotional distress, mental anguish, embarrassment and humiliation.”

A Republican, Detschelt’s term as a school board member is expected to conclude at the end of the year. His name did not appear on the primary ballot this year after a Westmoreland County judge ruled technical errors rendered his nomination petitions invalid.