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CV NEWS FEED // A school board in Virginia has agreed to pay $575,000 to a teacher who was dismissed for refusing to use a student’s transgender pronouns, according to a September 30 Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) press release.
After working at West Point High School for six years, Peter Vlaming was fired for allegedly violating the school’s anti-discrimination policies by refusing to use pronouns that were inconsistent with a student’s sex, CatholicVote reported.
Represented by ADF, Vlaming filed a lawsuit against the school in 2019, contending that his free speech and religious freedom rights were violated, the release said. A lower Virginia Court originally dismissed the suit, but in 2023 the Virginia Supreme Court reinstated the case after an appeal from Vlaming. The high court cited its commitment to “protect diversity of thought, diversity of speech, diversity of religion, and diversity of opinion.”
“I was wrongfully fired from my teaching job because my religious beliefs put me on a collision course with school administrators who mandated that teachers ascribe to only one perspective on gender identity — their preferred view,” Vlaming stated in the ADF report.
The release announced that in addition to the West Point School Board paying Vlaming $575,000 for damages and legal fees, it will remove Vlaming’s firing from his record.
Vlaming said he’s grateful for ADF attorneys’ efforts and hopes the case helps protect teachers’ and professors’ First Amendment rights.
