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Published in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin on July 7, 2025
By PATRICIA MANSON
pmanson@lawbulletinmedia.com
A school guidance counselor who was fired for publicly blasting "gender ideology" and promising to prevent any student from transitioning failed to show her First Amendment rights were violated, a federal appeals court held.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals acknowledged plaintiff Marissa Darlingh did not give up her right to speak on matters of public concern when she became an employee of the Milwaukee Public Schools.
But Darlingh's interest in delivering her expletive-laced speech attacking transgender rights was outweighed by the school district's interests as an employer, the court wrote.
And the school district, it wrote, determined that Darlingh's speech ran counter to her role as a counselor at an elementary school.
"It's not hard to see why: she made a strident public pledge to perform her counseling duties in an exceedingly rigid way that conflicted with the school district's obligation to ensure a supportive educational environment and promote student and parental trust," Chief Judge Diane S. Sykes wrote for a panel of the court. "That took Darlingh's speech outside the scope of the First Amendment's protection as applied in the public employment context."
The panel upheld a decision by U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Dries of the Eastern District of Wisconsin to dismiss Darlingh's First Amendment retaliation claim from the lawsuit she filed against the Milwaukee Board of School Directors and three school officials.
A due process claim in Darlingh's suit remains pending.
Darlingh began working as a counselor at Allen-Field Elementary School in March 2021.
In April 2022, she attended a "Sisters 4 Sisters" event in Madison organized by a group of self-described radical feminists. The event featured discussions and workshops on topics that included the effects of the transgender rights movement on women's rights.
At a rally, attendees were encouraged to speak from a spot on the state Capitol's steps that was equipped with a broadcast system. Darlingh took up the organizers on their offer.
After introducing herself and saying she was an elementary school counselor in the Milwaukee Public Schools, Darlingh launched into an impromptu speech that made frequent use of the F-word. She vowed Allen-Field students would not be exposed "to the harms of gender identity ideology " under her watch and cursed people who purportedly "want children to have unfettered access to hormones, wrong-sex hormones, and surgery."
Darlingh's speech was posted on YouTube. The school district suspended her in June 2022 and fired her three months later.
Darlingh filed her suit in federal court in Milwaukee in November 2022 and sought a preliminary injunction that would require school officials to rehire her while the complaint worked its way through the court system.
Dries denied the motion for a preliminary injunction and dismissed the First Amendment claim in March 2023. Darlingh appealed, and the 7th Circuit panel affirmed the dismissal on Wednesday.
To obtain an injunction, Darlingh would first have to show she likely would prevail on the merits of her free speech claim, Sykes wrote. To show she likely would prevail on that claim, Sykes continued, quoting H a rnishfeger v. United States, 943 F.3d 1105 (7th Cir. 2019), Darlingh would have to establish that she "engaged in constitutionally protected speech" and that she suffered a deprivation that was "likely to deter protected speech."
Darlingh also would have to show that her "protected speech was a motivating factor in the deprivation," Sykes wrote, quoting Harnishfeger.
She wrote the parties agree Darlingh suffered a deprivation and that her statements at the rally were a motivating factor in that deprivation. But the parties are split on whether Darlingh engaged in protected speech, Sykes wrote.
To determine whether a public employee's statements constituted protected speech, she wrote, courts apply the balancing test based on the precedents set in Pickering v. Board of Education of Township High School District 205, 391 U.S. 563 (1968), and Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138 (1983).
The employee must first show he or she "spoke as a citizen on a matter of public concern," Sykes wrote, quoting Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006).
She wrote Darlingh made that showing.
"Indeed, as the Supreme Court has recently emphasized, the treatment protocols for gender dysphoria are evolving and the scientific, policy, and legal debates surrounding transgender issues are profound and unsettled," Sykes wrote, citing United States v. Skrmetti, 2025 WL 1698785 (June 18, 2025).
Quoting Lane v. Franks, 573 U.S. 228 (2014) (internal quotation marks omitted), she wrote a court must then determine "whether the government had an adequate justification for treating the employee differently from any other member of the public based on the government's needs as an employer."
The court weighs "the interests of the employee, as a citizen, in commenting on the issue of public concern against the interests of the government, as an employer, in the proper performance of its public functions" in making that assessment, Sykes wrote.
She wrote the balance tipped in the school district's favor.
"Our decision rests on the speech itself, the sensitive nature of Darlingh's job," Sykes wrote, "and the school district's reasonable assessment that her profanity-ridden remarks expressed a fixed commitment to carry out her duties in a way that conflicted with its mission and policies, to the detriment of the district, students, and parents."
Joining the opinion were Judges Kenneth F. Ripple and Ilana Diamond Rovner.
The case is Marissa Darlingh v. Adria Maddaleni, et al., No. 23-1610.
Luke N. Berg of the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty in Milwaukee argued the case before the 7th Circuit on behalf of Darlingh.
"We are disappointed in the decision because we believe she was fired for expressing a political viewpoint that her employer disagreed with," Berg said in a statement.
Milwaukee Assistant City Attorney Katherine A. Headley argued the case on behalf of the school board and the individual defendants.
A spokesperson for the City Attorney's Office could not be reached for comment.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Aug. 26, 2026 Media Contact Information: Cartwheel Emily Paisner (888) 500-2067 emily.paisner@cartwheelcare.org
$1 million grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois will help Cartwheel scale access to care in rural and underserved communities through 2028
CHICAGO — August 26, 2026 — Cartwheel Care, a telehealth mental health provider for K-12 schools, today announced plans to expand access to care for up to 100,000 students across Illinois, supported by a $1 million grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL). The additional funding builds on an existing partnership between Cartwheel and BCBSIL, following a year of strong engagement and clinical outcomes. Cartwheel currently serves 40 Illinois school districts, and the grant will help expand services further into rural and underserved communities across the state through 2028. Mental health needs among Illinois students remain high. According to data from Lurie Children’s Hospital, approximately 50% of Illinois youth (ages 2–17) have experienced worsening mental health symptoms in recent years. At the same time, access to care has not kept pace: more than 80 of Illinois’ 102 counties have no practicing child psychiatrist, and the shortage is most acute in rural areas, where families often wait months for an appointment or travel significant distances for care. Cartwheel’s telehealth model is designed to remove the access barriers rural families face, like long waitlists and the need to travel to see a provider. By partnering with schools, Cartwheel provides licensed, Illinois-based clinicians with no waitlist, accepts all major insurance plans including Medicaid, and reaches kids and families where they already are, without requiring them to find or travel to an outside provider. “Every student experiences mental health challenges differently, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to supporting them,” said Dr. Juliana Chen, chief medical officer at Cartwheel. “Our goal is to meet students and families where they are, with practical support that helps them build skills, strengthen relationships, and feel more confident navigating challenges at school and at home. BCBSIL’s support is what allows us to bring that care to more Illinois communities.” “Supporting the health and well-being of Illinois youth is critical to building stronger communities,” said Brian Snell, president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. “The results we’ve seen through our partnership with Cartwheel demonstrate the impact that timely, accessible mental health services can have for students and families. This investment will help bring those services to even more communities across our state.” To date, four Illinois districts have received Cartwheel’s services through this grant: Steger SD 194 in Cook County and Will County, Troy CCSD 30-C in Will County, Mattoon CUSD 2 in Coles County, and Wolf Branch SD #113 in St. Clair County. In the first year of the program, more than 200 students were referred for care and completed more than 1,000 telehealth sessions. Appointments were scheduled in the same week with no waitlist. Sixty-eight percent of students served were covered by Medicaid or uninsured. Overall, 73% of students showed meaningful improvement in anxiety and depression symptoms on standard clinical screeners (GAD-7/PHQ-9). Additional districts where Cartwheel services are launching this fall include Litchfield CUSD #12, Panhandle CUSD #2, Leyden High School District #212, and Regional Office of Education #40. With the support of this grant, Cartwheel expects to expand into another 30 to 50 school districts, bringing access to care to a total of 100,000 students across Illinois. “Before this partnership, getting a student connected to care could take months,” said Jeffrey Peterson, director of student services & records at Troy CCSD 30-C. “Now our counselors can refer a student, know they’ll be seen within days, and are seeing real improvements as a result.” Through the grant, Cartwheel provides individual and family therapy, parent guidance, psychiatric evaluation and medication management, and specialized care programs for challenges like school avoidance, social media use, and intense emotions and behavior challenges. As reported in Illinois Policy, in 2025 about 25% of Illinois students missed at least 10% of the school year and this was more severe among low-income students, with 35.1% in that group chronically absent. Cartwheel’s school avoidance program delivers evidence-based care designed specifically for students struggling with school avoidance. In partnership with Cartwheel, Peoria Public Schools saw a 62% reduction in absences per student, along with decreases in suspensions and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Illinois school districts that want to learn more about this opportunity for the upcoming school year should visit: www.cartwheel.org/illinois. About Cartwheel Cartwheel is the nation’s largest and most trusted telehealth provider for K-12 schools, students, and families. Cartwheel partners with 350 school districts across 15 states to deliver comprehensive mental health services to students, families, and school staff. Founded in 2022 by educators and clinicians, Cartwheel combines evidence-based clinical care with technology to ensure every child has access to high-quality mental health support. Cartwheel accepts all major insurance plans including Medicaid and provides care at no cost to uninsured families. For more information visit: www.cartwheel.org. About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois is the largest health insurer in Illinois, serving nine million members and operating in all 102 Illinois counties. BCBSIL is a division of Health Care Service Corporation, a Mutual Legal Reserve Company and an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Learn more at bcbsil.com and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Aug. 24, 2026 Media Contact Information: Mather Institute Cindy Droog, president, Sabo PR (616) 717-8654 cindy@sabo-pr.com
Free online tool by Mather Institute supports local planning, partnership and investments
EVANSTON, Illinois – Chicago has a new tool to help understand where neighborhood conditions support social wellness among older adults – and where thoughtful investment and partnership may expand opportunities. Mather Institute launched a first-of-its-kind free Social Wellness Map, which scores the 77 community areas in Chicago on social wellness – a measure of feeling connected with others and with a community – for adults 55 and better. Previous research shows strong social ties are one of the most important predictors of a happy and long life, and that neighborhoods and communities shape how people interact, support one another and build shared identity. Mather Institute developed the map in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago. Designed as a planning and advocacy resource, the interactive map can help policymakers, community organizations, funders, planners and service providers explore local patterns, identify assets and consider where new investments may have the greatest benefit for older adults. “Social wellness is a crucial, yet often overlooked, part of healthy aging,” said Cate O’Brien, MPH, Ph.D., chief transformation officer at Mather Institute. “Because every community contains diverse histories, people and experiences, the map is intended to inform – not replace – local knowledge. The most useful next step is conversation. When organizations bring this data together with resident voices, they can better understand what is already working and what could be most beneficial to older adults and their communities.” The map is based on a new survey of more than 4,000 Chicago residents age 55 and better, combined with public data on community conditions, including walkability, economic factors and access to gathering places such as libraries, churches and community centers. Factors such as crime, lack of local businesses and poverty can hinder social wellness, but don’t tell the whole story. Users can view a side-by-side comparison of communities to explore how social wellness relates to health, happiness, income and other factors. Key findings include:
“Community leaders often have deep local knowledge, but need data to support the case for programs, funding and partnerships,” said Jennifer L. Smith, Ph.D., vice president of Mather Institute. “The Social Wellness Map offers another lens for understanding older adults’ experiences and for turning local insight into action.” High social wellness scores were not confined to one part of Chicago or to its wealthiest areas, suggesting that other factors such as neighborhood identity, belonging and longstanding social ties are also important to connection. Chatham emerged as a notable example, with a social wellness score of 8.14 out of 10, illustrating social wellness reflects aspects of community life beyond economic and safety indicators alone. Beverly received the highest community connectability score: 100 out of 100. Beverly is notable for its low crime rates, a strong family culture and several longstanding community gathering places. Jefferson Park stood out for having community conditions that support connection such as accessible transit, retail activity and established cultural gathering places. The map is free to use and does not require user registration. It can be explored at: https://www.matherinstitute.com/social-wellness-map/
About Mather and Mather Institute
Based in Evanston, Illinois, Mather is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1941 that is dedicated to a vision of changing the way society views aging. Mather creates Ways to Age Well℠ through programs, places and residences for today’s older adults. These include developing and operating communities that support older adults in pursuing wellness and fulfillment; sparking creativity and connections for older adults in Chicagoland and beyond; and through Mather Institute, conducting research and incubating innovation to help all live and age well.
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