A Virginia school board was ordered to pay $575,000 in a settlement to Peter Vlaming, a former high school French teacher, who was fired in 2018 for refusing to use a transgender student’s preferred pronouns.
Peter Vlaming was supported by the Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which filed a lawsuit against the West Point School District claiming that his dismissal violated his religious beliefs and free speech rights.
Vlaming's refusal to use the student's pronouns emerged from his deeply held religious conviction that a person’s sex is biologically fixed and cannot be changed. Although Vlaming tried to accommodate the student by using their chosen name, he avoided using pronouns that conflicted with his beliefs.
The school, along with the student and the student's parents insisted that he must use male pronouns, arguing that refusal would violate the district's anti-discrimination policy. Despite Vlaming's attempts to find a compromise, the school board terminated his employment citing his failure to comply with school rules.
Vlaming sued the school district claiming his constitutional right to freely exercise his religion and free speech were infringed upon. A lower court initially dismissed the lawsuit, but in December 2022, the Virginia Supreme Court reinstated his case.
The court agreed that Vlaming’s claims related to the violation of his religious rights under the Virginia Constitution, as well as his breach of contract claim against the school board, should proceed. However, three justices dissented, expressing concern that the ruling could set a precedent for people to object to virtually any policy on the grounds of religious beliefs.
The lawsuit was finalized in a settlement with the school board agreeing to pay Vlaming $575,000 in damages and legal fees. As part of the agreement, the board also erased his firing from his record.
The case drew significant attention due to the clash between religious beliefs and anti-discrimination policies in public schools, sparking debates about the extent of accommodation for both religious convictions and the rights of transgender students.
Vlaming stated that he was wrongfully terminated for not adhering to the school's stance on gender identity, which conflicted with his religious views. He expressed his desire to continue teaching and to accommodate all students without compromising his beliefs.
ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer quoted Vlaming's sentiments, highlighting that the school board had violated his First Amendment rights. Langhofer argued that Vlaming was fired not for what he said, but for what he refused to say and that the school’s actions punished him for holding a different viewpoint on gender identity.
In a development unrelated to the lawsuit, the West Point School District also altered its policies to align with guidelines implemented by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. These policies, finalized in 2023, rolled back several accommodations for transgender students including allowing teachers to refer to students by their birth name and gender regardless of their gender identity.
Governor Youngkin’s administration argued that these policies aligned with federal and state anti-discrimination laws, but they have faced legal challenges from groups seeking to reinstate previous guidelines that were more supportive of transgender students.
Superintendent Larry Frazier of West Point Public Schools expressed relief that the matter was resolved without further impact on the students and staff of the district. Although the case has been settled, it remains a focal point in the ongoing debate over how public schools should balance religious rights with anti-discrimination protections for transgender students.