Gwinnett Anti-Mask Group Raises $21K To Sue School District

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA — A group of parents unhappy with Gwinnett County Schools’ decision to mandate masks is planning to sue the district — and they’ve raised more than $21,000 so far to cover legal fees.

An online fundraiser organized by Michael Rudnick and tied to Gwinnett County Parents for Quality Education is soliciting donations to pay an attorney that it says has already been hired. According to a post on the fundraising site, “we have already secured a deposit from a great parent” and the lawsuit will be “served very soon.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, $21,500 of a $26,000 goal already had been raised, with a promise that donations would be refunded if the lawsuit isn’t filed.

This isn’t the first time the Gwinnett group has paid to make its opinion known. In May, the group bought a full-page ad protesting the mask mandate in The Gwinnett Daily Post. According to WSB-TV, the group was also trying to raise money at the time for a billboard near district headquarters. (A representative of Gwinnett County Parents for Quality Education emailed Patch after this story was first published to say that the needed money was raised and the billboard has since gone live.)

The lawsuit isn’t likely to succeed, according to one legal expert. In an interview with WABE’s Martha Dalton, legal analyst Page Pate said that a mask mandate is “perfectly legal” because it has a rational basis — stemming the spread of COVID-19 among students — and it doesn’t infringe on a constitutional right.

“It’s a hassle, yes it is, but the district does have the ability and the discretion to make this rule as long as there some basis for it, some rational reason for it,” Pate said. “And in this case, I don’t think there’s much dispute that the reason for the mask mandate would be to protect the kids’ health.”

At the same time, a lawsuit against a school district for not mandating masks and allowing a child to contract COVID-19 would likely also fail, Pate said.

“It would be virtually impossible to prove how a particular student got the disease,” Pate said. “And secondly, in Georgia especially, schools and school boards are immune from almost any kind of negligent lawsuit.”

WABE's license is held by the Atlanta Board of Education.

Hear the interview on the WABE-FM website.

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