Va. school board to pay $575k to teacher fired for not using preferred pronouns

The West Point Public School Board in Virginia has agreed to pay a former teacher, who was fired in 2018 for refusing to use a transgender student’s preferred pronouns, $575,000 to settle a lawsuit. Peter Vlaming was a French teacher for the district for nearly seven years. The district fired him when he refused to use male pronouns for a transgender student, citing religious convictions.

Vlaming stated that he agreed to use the student’s new name but not preferred pronouns. His lawyer with the Alliance Defending Freedom argued that Vlaming “couldn’t in good conscience comply with the superintendent’s demand that he refer to one of his students using pronouns inconsistent with the student’s sex.”

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The Alliance Defending Freedom claimed the school district fired Vlaming because using the student’s name rather than pronouns was not a sufficient compromise.

Vlaming sued for wrongful termination, but a lower court dismissed the case. The Virginia Supreme Court later reinstated the lawsuit.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s, R, administration has significantly altered the state’s approach to transgender student accommodations.

New policies were implemented in June 2023. These policies permit teachers to use names and pronouns that correspond to a student’s sex assigned at birth and any changes to a student’s name or pronouns require parental approval. The policies also stipulate that students must participate in activities and use facilities based on their biological sex, with only a few exceptions allowed.

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The settlement includes damages, attorneys’ fees, removal of Vlaming’s termination from his record, and policy changes aligning with new state guidelines on transgender students.

Similar legal challenges regarding transgender pronouns and rights in schools have emerged across the United States, including in Florida, Colorado and North Dakota.