$2.6 Million Settlement Approved In Case Alleging Forced Hindu Meditation In Chicago Schools

India-West News Desk

CHICAGO, IL – Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace have agreed to a $2.6 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit alleging that high school students were compelled to engage in Hindu-rooted Transcendental Meditation (TM) practices without parental consent or full transparency.

The late David Lynch is the acclaimed American filmmaker best known for surreal, mind-bending works like Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet. Beyond cinema, he was a passionate advocate of Transcendental Meditation and founded a global foundation to promote it.

The lawsuit stemmed from the implementation of the “Quiet Time” program, introduced into several CPS high schools between 2015 and 2019. The program was designed to reduce stress through twice-daily meditation sessions, but plaintiffs claim it crossed constitutional lines by promoting religious practices under the guise of mental wellness.

According to court documents, the Chicago Board of Education entered into a $170,000 contract with the Lynch Foundation in March 2018 to fund the program through June of that year. The contract described Quiet Time as offering students the choice between TM or alternative silent activities like reading or resting. However, multiple students reported being coerced into TM, with some facing discipline when they declined to participate, Just The News said.

Among the lead plaintiffs was Kaya Hudgins, 22, who grew up in a Muslim household. In her deposition, Hudgins testified that when she asked to perform Islamic prayers during Quiet Time instead of TM, she was denied and later reprimanded. The Federalist reported that Hudgins said she was given a secret mantra, which she was told not to share. Upon researching the phrase, she discovered it referenced a Hindu deity.

The lawsuit argued that the initiation ceremonies and mantras amounted to religious indoctrination, violating students’ First Amendment rights under the Establishment Clause. Attorney John Mauck of Mauck & Baker, who represented Hudgins and others, said the outcome “vindicates the concerns of former students and parents that the initiation ceremony and daily meditation regime were effectively demonic invocation.”

The lawsuit class includes 773 students who were either compelled to participate in TM or forced to sit silently during sessions, Just The News, noted.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly approved the settlement on May 7. The judge also granted attorney fees totaling $860,035 and awarded $100,000 to Hudgins as class representative. CPS and the Lynch Foundation are splitting the settlement cost evenly.

Mariyah Green, another former student and a practicing Christian, received a separate $150,000 settlement from the same defendants in 2023, media reported.

The University of Chicago was initially named as a defendant due to its Urban Labs’ involvement in evaluating the program but was later dismissed from the case by Judge Kennelly, according to Just The News.

The David Lynch Foundation, founded by filmmaker David Lynch — known for Twin Peaks and a long-time TM advocate — initially introduced TM into schools before expanding its reach. Lynch passed away in January, but the foundation continues to promote TM through its centers in New York and Fairfield, Iowa, home to Maharishi International University.

This case raises new questions about the intersection of public education, mental health programming, and religious freedom — particularly when schools fail to notify or respect the religious convictions of students and their families.