Student Suing District over Social Posting Suspension

Reid Sagehorn
Image: Jacki V. Photography

Reid Sagehorn is a former student at Rogers High School in Minnesota who was given a seven-week suspension for an apparently sarcastic two-word Internet posting. The 18 year old sued the district and the Rogers police chief, asserting that his reputation was permanently damaged and his civil rights violated.

The charge was based on a posting that happened back in January when Sagehorn, who is a member of the National Honor Society and captain of the Rogers football and basketball teams replied, “Actually, yeah” to an online question about whether he had “made out” with a 28-year-old teacher. Sagehorn later said the response was meant sarcastically and that there was no relationship.

“Reid’s posting was meant to be taken in jest,” the suit says. “This was a mistake. … He never intended for anyone to believe his post.” But the school did not see it that way; they first suspended the student for 5 days for “damaging a teacher’s reputation.” As the officials began to investigate the possible relationship, the suspension was increased to 10 days, and then nearly two months.

Sagehorn was also a minor when he posed the tweet, and says his name will forever be linked with the term “felony.” Sagehorn says he lost his basketball captainship and his spot on the baseball team, and was forced to change schools as a result of the suspension and surrounding drama. The district says the "door is still open" for the disgraced student to return to Rogers High and finish out his senior year.