DUNN, N.C. (AP) – A civil rights group has filed a federal lawsuit against the Sampson County school board claiming a ninth-grader was wrongfully suspended for disregarding a warning about expressing his Christian faith.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund said students at Midway High School were allowed to participate in the April 26 Day of Silence, an event promoted by the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network.

The group said student Benjamin Arthurs was refused permission to wear a Day of Truth shirt on the following day and distribute cards presenting a Christian viewpoint on homosexual behavior during non-instructional time. He was suspended May 1 for ignoring the warning.

The county school superintendent said the student was allowed to wear his shirt but was told he couldn’t pass out leaflets.

“School officials shouldn’t be treating religious students any differently than they treat other students,” David Cortman, an attorney with the group, said in a statement.

According to the lawsuit, Sampson County Board of Education Superintendent Stewart Hobbs said Arthurs would be “pushing his religion on others” and “religion is not allowed in school.”

Hobbs said in a telephone interview that the student was given in-school suspension for insubordination after disobeying the principal about the leaflets, but that the student’s mother decided to take out-of-school suspension.

“He chose to pass out the fliers,” Hobbs said.

The suit, filed in federal court in Wilmington, names the Sampson County Board of Education, Hobbs and Midway principal Gaynor Canady as defendants.