Teen Whose Teacher Told Her to Take Off Pro-Romney Shirt & Compared it to the KKK Is Suing

Philadelphia teenager Samantha Pawlucy's parents are suing the teacher and school district after Pawlucy was mocked for wearing a pro-Mitt Romney T-shirt earlier this year. (Photo credit: Philadelphia Inquirer)

The parents of a Philadelphia high schooler who said her geometry teacher ordered her to remove her pro-Mitt Romney T-shirt are suing the teacher and the school district.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported the suit claims the district ignored 16-year-old Samantha Pawlucy's right to free speech and allowed other students to harass her, subjecting her "to emotional distress, simply because she exercised her First Amendment rights."

Pawlucy's story went viral after she wore a pink Romney-Ryan T-shirt to school and said her teacher, Lynette Gaymon, ordered her to remove it, saying Carroll High School is a "Democratic" school and that it was akin to wearing a Ku Klux Klan shirt.

Gaymon later wrote a public letter of apology to Pawlucy. Romney himself called the teen's family and said he appreciated her courage.

According to the Inquirer, the suit claims the district's "de facto prohibition" on pro-Romney T-shirts violated Pawlucy's right to free speech and says Gaymon defamed the teen by implying she "was a racist and Ku Klux Klan sympathizer."

Pawlucy's parents are seeking unspecified damages and are asking a judge to enjoin the district "to make sure they don't engage in that activity again," family attorney Walter Zimolong said.