A high school French teacher avoided using a transgender student’s pronouns because of his religious beliefs and was fired, a Virginia lawsuit says.
Now, West Point Public Schools will pay $575,000 to settle the lawsuit , according to the Alliance Defending Freedom, a religious legal organization that represented the teacher in the case.
“This is a case that has received some regional and national attention in the media, and we are pleased to be able to reach a resolution that will not have a negative impact on the students, staff or school community of West Point,” Superintendent Larry Frazier said in a statement shared with McClatchy News.
The school district didn’t confirm the settlement amount in its statement.
The ongoing First Amendment legal battle stretches back to 2018, when teacher Peter Vlaming met with a trans student and said he would not use male pronouns to refer to the student because doing so would violate Vlaming’s religious beliefs, according to court filings.
Vlaming told his supervisors and the student’s parents he would use the student’s preferred French and English name and tried not to use pronouns at all, the lawsuit says.
The student eventually withdrew from Vlaming’s class, and Vlaming was placed on administrative leave for not complying with supervisors’ directives to use male pronouns, which Vlaming said he couldn’t do in “good conscience,” according to the ADF.
The school district said Vlaming violated its policy “prohibiting harassment or retaliation against students and others on the basis of gender identity,” according to court filings.
After a public hearing, the school board voted to fire him, court documents say.
The lawsuit filed Sept. 30, 2019, accused the school district of breach of contract and violating Vlaming’s constitutional rights. A circuit court dismissed Vlaming’s claims, and the lawsuit went to the Virginia Supreme Court.
Vlaming “wasn’t fired for something he said; he was fired for something he couldn’t say,” ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer said in a news release.
The school board argued it was allowed to regulate “in classroom speech of a public high school teacher” without violating the state constitution’s free speech protections.
“Vlaming’s speech in the hallways and classrooms of West Point High School was pursuant to his official duties as a public school teacher and therefore is not protected speech,” the school board said, according to the Virginia Supreme Court.
The court disagreed and rejected the dismissal of Vlaming’s claims in December. Ultimately, the parties agreed to settle and dismiss the lawsuit Sept. 30, records show.
“As we move forward, WPPS will continue to be a place where all students feel safe, respected, and welcomed on a daily basis,” Frazier said in a statement. “Our focus is on all students, and our goal is to continue to build positive relationships throughout our school division community.”
The ADF celebrated the settlement, which will cover damages and attorney’s fees, the group said.
“I loved teaching French and gracefully tried to accommodate every student in my class, but I couldn’t say something that directly violated my conscience,” Vlaming said, according to the ADF.
West Point, Virginia, is about a 40-mile drive east from Richmond.
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