A Virginia school board has agreed to pay $575,000 in damages and attorney fees to a former high school teacher who was dismissed for refusing to use a transgender student’s preferred pronouns.
The West Point School Board’s settlement on Monday includes a financial payment and policy changes, as well as the removal of teacher Peter Vlaming’s termination from his record. This agreement comes nearly a year after the Virginia Supreme Court allowed Vlaming’s lawsuit, filed by the Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom ADF, to proceed.
Peter wasn’t fired for what he said, but for what he couldn’t say. The school board violated his First Amendment rights under Virginia law, said ADF senior counsel Tyson Langhofer.
Vlaming, who taught in the district for almost seven years, was dismissed in 2018 after he refused to use pronouns requested by a student that did not align with the student’s biological sex. While Vlaming used the student’s new name, school officials demanded that he also use the pronouns. ADF attorneys filed the lawsuit in 2019, claiming his rights were violated.
I loved teaching and tried to accommodate all my students, but I couldn’t say something that went against my conscience, Vlaming said, explaining that his termination was due to his religious beliefs.
In December, the Virginia Supreme Court reinstated Vlaming’s lawsuit, stating that the school administrators had infringed on his religious freedom.
No government can lawfully force its citizens to endorse ideological views that violate their deeply held religious beliefs without a compelling reason, Justice D. Arthur Kelsey wrote in the court’s opinion.
As part of the settlement, West Point Public Schools agreed to update their policies to align with Virginia’s new educational guidelines, which emphasize free speech and parental rights. These policies allow teachers to address transgender students by their birth-assigned names and pronouns, a move criticized by LGBTQ groups.
In a statement to The Washington Post, the school board expressed satisfaction with the settlement. Our priority is our students, and we aim to foster positive relationships within our school community, said superintendent Larry L. Frazier Jr.