Victory! Christian Teacher Receives $95K from Lawsuit Over School’s Trans Pronoun Policy
A Kansas school is murmuring with discontent after being forced to pay a Christian teacher $95,000 in damages
Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash
A Kansas school is murmuring with discontent after being forced to pay a Christian teacher $95,000 in damages and attorney fees, the consequence of suspending her for refusing to call a middle student by their personal pronouns in school while hypocritically avoiding those same pronouns around parents.
Fort Riley Middle School suspended math teacher Pamela Ricard, 58, for continually using the children’s given names and pronouns while at the same time having a policy avoiding those same terms when around the student’s parents to protect the child’s trans identity. The school has a policy of not revealing students’ personal pronouns to the parents unless the child permits them. Claiming this deception went against her Christian beliefs, she sued, and a federal judge agreed and sided with her in the lawsuit, prompting the school to settle
Alliance Defence Fund Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer said in a statement.
“No school district should ever force teachers to willfully deceive parents or engage in any speech that violates their deeply held religious beliefs. We’re pleased to settle this case favorably on behalf of Pam, and we hope that it will encourage school districts across the country to support the constitutionally protected freedom of teachers to teach and communicate honestly with both children and parents.”