The former coordinator of a Salem program to encourage students to walk and bike to school is suing her former government employer after she was fired for wearing a shirt featuring an iconic American painting that included a racial slur. Beth Schmidt is seeking an unspecified amount in damages, c laiming that the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments and her boss, executive director McRae Carmichael, violated her free speech rights and terminated her wrongfully. She sued on Jan. 1 in Eugene U.S. District Court. READ IT: Beth Schmidt lawsuit Carmichael referred questions from Salem Reporter about the lawsuit and the agency’s general policies on employee clothing to the agency’s attorney, Tyler C. Yeoman-Millette, who declined to comment. Schmidt worked for three years as the council of governments’ Safe Routes to Schools coordinator. That included organizing the Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day on Nov. 14. The day honors Bridges, who at age 6 became the first Black student in the South to integrate an all-white elementary school in 1960. Schmidt on Nov. 5 wore a shirt to work with American artist Normal Rockwell’s painting “The Problem We All Live With,” which shows Bridges being escorted to school by U.S. marshals. The artwork includes a wall behind her splattered with tomatoes and graffiti depicting a racist epithet. “The inclusion of the slur is documentary and condemnatory in nature and reflects the racism confronted by Ruby Bridges; it does not endorse or promote the language depicted,” Schmidt claims in her suit. Bridges shared the painting on her personal social media two days after Schmidt wore the shift to work. “I really am very, very motivated and inspired by her and her courage and strength. So I just wanted to share that, you know, and that was one way that I felt was acceptable,” Schmidt said in an interview. She wore the shirt during a scheduled meeting that day with Salem-Keizer School District employees, according to the suit. “The Problem We All Live With,” a 1963 painting by Norman Rockwell, depicts Ruby Bridges being escorted to school by U.S. Marshals. Her suit claims that on Nov. 10, Schmidt was called into a meeting with Carmichael and told she could not attend other approaching Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day events or accept a proclamation from the Salem City Council. On Nov. 12, Carmichael gave Schmidt a written warning for violating agency policies against racial harassment by wearing the shirt. During a meeting, her boss told her her job was not at risk, the suit claims. The warning directed Schmidt not to wear the shirt again and assigned her several training sessions on diversity, equity and inclusion, according to a copy provided by her attorney, Lake James Perriguey. The suit claims Carmichael also told Schmidt she could participate in Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day events. On Nov. 14, 11 Salem-area elementary schools and about 3,200 students participated in walks honoring Bridges. Three days later, Schmidt was terminated with a letter citing “the seriousness of this violation.”  The letter, provided by Schmidt’s attorney, said the agency received three complaints about her shirt. It cited no other reason for her termination. Schmidt’s suit claims the council of governments violated her free speech protections under both the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Oregon Constitution by firing her for accurately depicting historical racism while expressing a viewpoint on a matter of public concern. “Government punishment of speech because it truthfully depicts racial hatred – even when offensive language is shown in context – is impermissible,” the suit claims. Englewood Elementary students wave purple flags and pom-poms during the Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day, on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (HAILEY COOK/Salem Reporter) Schmidt has been an advocate for expanding observance of Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day  and lobbied successfully for legislation recognizing the day statewide. “It was very painful to be then depicted as I had intended to hurt people or harm people,” Schmidt said. She is not currently working. Perriguey said Schmidt’s reputation has been harmed by the firing, which he said was an effort by the government to avoid discussing uglier aspects of American history. “We’ve seen this in the country rewriting of some of the horrible parts of American history through the actions of government officials,” he said. Contact Managing Editor Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241. LOCAL NEWS DELIVERED TO YOU: Subscribe to Salem Reporter and get all the fact-based Salem news that matters to you. Fair, accurate, trusted – SUBSCRIBE The post School walk coordinator claims local government fired her for wearing Ruby Bridges shirt with racial slur appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less