A New Jersey man is suing his former community college, a business professor, and a dean, claiming he was branded a “racist” in front of his classmates and pushed out of an online course because of a “Trump 2020” flag that was hanging on his bedroom wall during a Zoom class.
Justin Caiazzo, 29, of Lake Hiawatha, filed the complaint late last month in New Jersey Superior Court.
Caiazzo is suing Passaic County Community College, Professor Gladys Harris, and dean Peter Hynes.
The lawsuit says his First Amendment rights were violated during a business statistics class in July 2021.
Caiazzo was attending the class from home when Harris stopped the session after noticing the flag in his background, according to the complaint obtained by the New York Post.
The document says she demanded that he take it off the wall immediately and told him the class would not continue until he did. Caiazzo says he did not discuss or mention politics in class.
When he asked what was wrong with the flag, Harris called it “offensive,” the lawsuit alleges.
