Teacher wins $95K settlement from Kansas school after dispute over student pronouns
TOPEKA, Kansas — A former middle school math teacher has won a settlement with the district after a dispute over the Christian teacher's treatment of LGBTQ students.
Pamela Ricard won $95,000 in damages and legal fees in the settlement with Geary County School District, her attorneys announced Wednesday. The lawsuit was subsequently dismissed.
Ricard was a teacher at Fort Riley Middle School, a public school on the U.S. Army base at Fort Riley located about 60 miles west of Topeka. Ricard has since retired after teaching in the district since 2005.
Ricard was represented by attorneys at the Kansas-based Kriegshauser Ney Law Group and the national Alliance Defending Freedom.
The settlement comes after Ricard won a preliminary injunction in May, indicating she was likely to prevail on her First Amendment claim had the litigation progressed.
District Judge Holly Teeter's order blocked the school from disciplining Ricard if she revealed names and pronouns of her transgender students when communicating with their parents.
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Teacher had two transgender students in her classroom
At the time, Ricard had two transgender students in her class, neither of whom had authorized the district to disclose their names or pronouns to their parents.
"Plaintiff believes that addressing students one way at school and a different way when speaking to their parents is dishonest," Teeter's order said. "Being dishonest violates her sincere religious beliefs."
Ricard, who is Christian, argued that any policy requiring her to "to refer to a student by a gendered, non-binary, or plural pronoun ... or salutation ... or other gendered language that is different from the student’s biological sex" violates her religious beliefs.
The district had argued that it wasn't the school's place to "out" LGBTQ youth. Teeter, who was appointed to the bench by former President Donald Trump, said schools can't interfere with parental rights.
"Whether the District likes it or not, that constitutional right includes the right of a parent to have an opinion and to have a say in what a minor child is called and by what pronouns they are referred," Teeter wrote.
The order wasn't permanent and didn't apply to other teachers, but the school board opted to revoke the parental communication policy at issue.
"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," said ADF lawyer Tyson Langhofer.
Teacher filed lawsuit before retiring from district
Ricard filed the lawsuit in March, requesting a trial in Topeka, after a complicated history with school administrators over how to address transgender students. That included accusations from students of "being visibly transphobic" and "misgendering/deadnaming."
As part of the settlement, the district is required to publish a statement that Ricard was in good standing without any disciplinary actions at the time of her retirement, her attorneys said.
A spokesperson for the school district said it didn't have any comment on the settlement.
Jason Tidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jtidd@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jason_Tidd.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas teacher wins $95K from school in trans student pronoun fight
