Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21-418_i425.pdf
Page Number: 43

Cite as:  597 U. S. ____ (2022) 

3 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

his students were otherwise occupied.”  Ante, at 1.  The rec-
ord before us, however, tells a different story. 

A 
The  District  serves  approximately  5,057  students  and
employs  332  teachers  and  400  nonteaching  personnel  in
Kitsap County, Washington.  The county is home to Bahá’ís,
Buddhists,  Hindus,  Jews,  Muslims,  Sikhs,  Zoroastrians, 
and many denominations of Christians, as well as numer-
ous residents who are religiously unaffiliated.  See Brief for 
Religious  and  Denominational  Organizations  et al.  as 
Amici Curiae 4. 

The District first hired Kennedy in 2008, on a renewable 
annual contract, to serve as a part-time assistant coach for 
the varsity football team and head coach for the junior var-
sity team at Bremerton High School (BHS).  Kennedy’s job
description  required  him  to  “[a]ccompany  and  direct”  all 
home  and  out-of-town  games  to  which  he  was  assigned, 
overseeing  preparation  and  transportation  before  games,
being “[r]esponsible for player behavior both on and off the
field,” supervising dressing rooms, and “secur[ing] all facil-
ities at the close of each practice.”  App. 32–34, 36.  His du-
ties  encompassed  “supervising  student  activities  immedi-
ately  following  the  completion  of  the  game”  until  the
students  were  released  to  their  parents  or  otherwise  al-
lowed to leave.  Id., at 133. 

The District also set requirements for Kennedy’s interac-
tions with players, obliging him, like all coaches, to “exhibit 
sportsmanlike conduct at all times,” “utilize positive moti-
vational strategies to encourage athletic performance,” and 
serve as a “mentor and role model for the student athletes.” 
Id.,  at  56.  In  addition,  Kennedy’s  position  made  him  re-
sponsible for interacting with members of the community.
In  this  capacity,  the  District  required  Kennedy  and  other
coaches to “maintain positive media relations,” “always ap-
proach officials with composure” with the expectation that