NJ Professor's 'Game of Thrones' Suspension Rescinded

PARAMUS, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A New Jersey professor suspended over an online photo containing a quote from "Game of Thrones" has had his punishment rescinded by the college.

An official from Bergen County Community College wrote in a letter to Francis Schmidt last month that the suspension may have violated his constitutional rights.

Schmidt, an art professor, was suspended for eight days in January after posting a picture on Google Plus of his 7-year-old daughter in a yoga pose wearing a T-shirt with the phrase from the graphic HBO show that read "I WILL TAKE WHAT IS MINE WITH FIRE AND BLOOD."

A day after the picture was posted, Schmidt said school officials questioned whether the reference was meant as a threat against a dean.

The college's director of human resources says in the letter that Schmidt's punishment was rescinded and it was being removed from his file. College spokesman Larry Hlavenka Jr. said the compromise definitively closes the matter and treats it as though it never occurred.

Schmidt told 1010 WINS in April that he asked officials why they thought the phrase was threatening, and one said "when you see the word 'fire,' next thing you know, some guy's up here shooting everything up with an AK-47."

He tried to explain that the quote was from "Game of Thrones," but the officials claimed they didn't know the show, Schmidt said.

An official from Human Resources then asked a group of secretaries if any of them had heard of the series, and one came forward to confirm that the quote was from the show, Schmidt said.

"Without any cueing, she identified not only the phrase, but the sigil of House Targaryen," Schmidt said.

Two days later, Schmidt said he was suspended for eight days without pay and told he had to see a psychiatrist before he could return to the school.

Schmidt told The Record in April he believed the suspension may have been retaliation for a previous grievance he filed with the college prior to the incident.

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