New Jersey high school security guard fired over 'black thug' reinstated

A South Jersey high school security guard who was fired in March over a Facebook post suggesting a Philadelphia police officer was killed by a "black thug" will be reinstated but reassigned.

Per a lawsuit settlement, Mary Czaplinski, who has worked for the school district for 12 years, will return to work on Sept. 1 but will not return to her post at Vineland High School, according to Joseph Rossi, the Vineland Public School District's personnel director.

On March 5, after black officer Robert Wilson III was gunned down by two black men inside a North Philadelphia video game store, Czaplinski posted her thoughts to Facebook.

"Praying hard for the Philly cop shot today by another black thug," she wrote, "may(be) all white people should start riots and protests and scare the hell out of them."

Shortly after her termination, Czaplinski filed two lawsuits against the the school district - a civil suit challenging the termination and a suit claiming the district violated her free speech.

In June, both sides reached a settlement, which was approved by the the school board last week, according to Czaplinski's Wildwood-based attorney, Frank L. Corrado.

Under the agreement, Czaplinski will not work at either a high school or a middle school.

Czaplinski, who works for the district for 10 months out of the year, was also given a three-month, unpaid suspension - retroactive to March 27 through June 30 - and was asked to undergo sensitivity training, which she has already completed, Rossi said.

She will resume her salary of $22,300, Rossi added.

Rossi said this case will not set a precedent.

"Any personnel matter is looked at independently," he said. "I think with social media, probably uncharted territory occurs almost daily in the work place."