No victory for bus driver fired over 'Jesus' candy

A public school bus driver who gave out Christian goodie bags to children on her route, then got fired because of it, has lost her lawsuit against the district, reports Friendly Atheist.

Sarah Robinson began driving for the Mattawan Consolidated School District near Kalamazoo, Michigan in 2024. By Halloween of that year, she was handing out candy to children. She did it again before Christmas.

The “holiday message” bags specifically included the debunked story about how candy canes are shaped like the letter “J” because of Jesus. Robinson also included pro-Christian messaging in the bags. Initially, she claimed her immediate supervisor told her it was okay to hand out candy as long as kids’ participation was optional.

But after a Jewish mother complained that her child arrived with a bag of Christian messages, the school district told Robinson to stop the practice. Instead, Robinson did an end-run around the district: As Easter drew near, she coaxed her daughter and her daughter’s friend to hand out the candy instead.

At that point, administrators gave Robinson the option to resign or be fired, but Friendly Atheist reports the superintendent told her that she “could not be trusted not to speak about Jesus again.”

The district fired Robinson in April of 2025 — and initially reported her for “misconduct” to the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency, before withdrawing their MUIA report.

“Robinson pushed back against her firing with some incredibly pathetic responses,” Friendly Atheist reports.

She claimed the bus was technically stopped when she gave kids candy, “suggesting she was off the clock, making it legal.” By doing that, she argued, she was no different from high school football coach Joe Kennedy, who demanded the right to pray at midfield after games for everyone to watch and won his court case before the conservative Supreme Court.

However, she also claimed the district never gave her “written notice” of any problems — despite proof of correspondence.

The district asked the court to toss the case, and they presented Robinson’s termination letter that said her supervisor told her, “not to engage in the distribution of religious materials,” contrary to Robinson’s claims. The district also pointed out that Robinson had been issued two warnings, but she insisted on doing it, despite the district’s religious mix of students and patrons.

U.S. District Court Judge Jane M. Beckering argued that unlike Coach Kennedy, “whose prayer was offered during a time when employees were free to attend to their personal lives, Plaintiff was still on the job when she distributed her religious candy. As indicated, she continued to owe a duty of care related to the safe and proper operation of the bus and ensuring students would safely board and disembark. Her role as a District employee and state actor did not end merely because the school bus was stationary.”

Additionally, Beckering argued that Robinson intended to give candy to a captive audience: the kids on her bus.

“Beckering also said Robinson failed to attach exhibits to her motion, failed to name anyone who violated her constitutional rights, failed to make an actual claim against the district, etc. Rookie mistakes, left and right,” reports Friendly Atheist, pointing out that Robinson said she was representing herself and only using an attorney to draft her complaint.

And because Beckering dismissed this case with prejudice, Robinson can’t refile it later with a better lawyer.

Friendly Atheist described Robinson as a victim of her “Christian privilege,” arguing that “Robinson wasn’t fired because she’s a Christian. She was fired because she thought her faith gave her permission to ignore the rules.”