A Virginia school board must pay more than $500,000 to a former French teacher fired in 2018 for refusing to use a transgender student's preferred pronouns.
Teacher Peter Vlaming, along with the Christian law group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), filed a lawsuit against the school district, arguing that his firing violated his religious beliefs.
“I was unfairly terminated from my teaching position because my religious beliefs put me on a collision course with school administrators who required teachers to: only their preferred perspective on gender identity,” Vlaming said in a statement after the settlement agreement.
“I loved teaching French and tried to be polite to every student in the class, but I couldn't say anything that would directly go against my conscience.”
ADF said the school board fired Vlaming because it could not in good conscience comply with the district's superintendent's request to call students by pronouns inconsistent with their biological sex.
He has “tried to accommodate” trans students by avoiding pronouns altogether and using names of their own choosing, but students, parents and schools are required to use male pronouns, and if they refuse, the school It was argued that this violates anti-discrimination regulations.
As part of the terms of the settlement, the West Point School Board will pay the former teacher $575,000 in damages and legal costs and have the wrongful termination removed from her record.
In a change unrelated to the lawsuit, the district also announced it would change its policy to align with state education guidelines established by Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The guidelines allow K-12 teachers in the state to refer to transgender students by their teacher's name. Birth name and gender, regardless of gender identity; the hill is written.
“Peter wasn't fired for saying something; he was fired for something. couldn't do it say. “The school board violated its First Amendment rights under the Virginia Constitution and federal law,” ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer said in a statement.
“As a teacher, Peter was passionate about the subjects he taught, was well-liked by his students, and did his best to accommodate their needs and wishes. However, in good conscience, he You can't speak a message that you know isn't true, and school boards and government officials can't punish someone for that.”
West Point Public Schools Superintendent Larry L. Frazier Jr. told the Washington Post that he was pleased to be able to resolve the issue in a manner that “does not negatively impact West Point students, staff, or the school community.” spoke.
