Mech v. School Board of Palm Beach County, No. 15-10778 (11th Cir.)
Our office submitted an amicus brief on behalf of Plaintiff-Appellant David Mech who provides mobile math tutoring services under the fictitious business name, “The Happy/Fun Math Tutor.” Since 2010, Mech had multiple advertising agreements with the School District and posted banner advertisements on school fences just like other businesses have been allowed to do. In February 2013, the School District became aware that the business address on Mech’s banner was also the business address for his adult entertainment company “Dave Pounder Productions,” a registered LLC. Based solely on the fact that both the tutoring company and Dave Pounder Productions have the same business address, the School District removed Mech’s banner without providing him any prior notice and refused to reverse its decision after Mech’s repeated requests. The district court granted Defendant’s motion for summary judgment as to all of Mech’s claims, including his free speech claim. In our amicus brief, we argued that speaker-based discrimination is impermissible even in the context of commercial speech and that Defendant’s discrimination against Mech was clear from its use of unbridled discretion to treat him differently than other banner sponsors, including ale houses and restaurants that serve alcohol that are allowed to display banners on school grounds.
Legal Documents:
Amicus Brief (4/16/2015)