Vancouver, Washington - An appeals court has ruled that a middle school teacher who brought a "Make America Great Again" hat to two training sessions for staff members is protected by the First Amendment.

According to the Columbian, Eric Dodge, a former science teacher at Wy’east Middle School, first brought the controversial MAGA cap to a cultural sensitivity and racial bias training event held for staff-only just before the start of the 2019-2020 school year.

The teacher sat the hat on a table in front of him during the meeting, which upset other teachers due to the context of the event. The guest speaker said they felt "intimidated and traumatized" by the act.

Caroline Garrett, the school's principal at that time, allegedly told Dodge that he should use "better judgment" in regard to the incident.

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Dodge proceeded to bring the hat to another training event, where he claims he was "verbally assaulted" by Garrett and his fellow employees.

In April 2020, Dodge filed a lawsuit against Garrett, the school district, and the school's head of human resources. On December 29, the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Evergreen Public Schools teacher's act was well within his rights to free speech.

The judge presiding over the case decided that principal Garrett had retaliated against Dodge's act, violating his right to freedom of speech.

"While some of the training attendees may have been outraged or offended by Dodge's political expression, no evidence of actual or tangible disruption to school operations has been presented," Judge Danielle Forrest, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, wrote in his ruling.

"Political speech is the quintessential example of protected speech, and it is inherently controversial," he added.

The appeals court ultimately decided that the school district and its chief human resources officer did not take any improper administrative action in the incident, and dropped both parties from the lawsuit.