Teacher Wins $650,000 After Being Fired for Refusing to Use ‘Trans’ Pronouns
An Indiana school district will pay $650,000 for firing a music teacher who refused to use students’ incorrect and antiscientific “preferred pronouns” in violation of his sincerely held religious beliefs.
John Kluge taught orchestra and music theory at Brownsburg High School for several years, until the school district demanded he use students’ names and pronouns that aligned with their “gender identity,” rather than biological reality.
Kluge is a Christian, and he can’t in good conscience affirm “transgenderism” or speak in a way that violates his faith. His religious beliefs “are drawn from the Bible” and he believes “God created mankind as either male or female” and that “he cannot affirm as true ideas and concepts that he deems untrue and sinful.”
He requested a religious accommodation under Title VII, volunteering to refer to all students by their last name as a compromise. His accommodation was granted – at first.
The arrangement went smoothly until a few students and teachers complained about the compromise. As a result, the school district decided no exceptions would be allowed. The district revoked Kluge’s accommodation and forced him to resign, ending his teaching career.
Kluge filed a lawsuit arguing that Brownsburg Community School Corporation officials violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act which prohibits discrimination against employees based on their religion. Kluge is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom.
Last August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that Kluge’s case should go to a jury trial. However, Brownsburg decided to settle the lawsuit and agreed to a joint stipulation of dismissal.
Brownsburg agreed to pay $650,000 in the settlement and will also train its senior staff on how Title VII protects employees from discrimination based on their religious beliefs.
“After almost five and a half years, common sense has prevailed at Brownsburg,” said ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of U.S. Litigation David Cortman. “This settlement confirms what the law has always said: Public schools cannot force teachers to violate their religious beliefs.”
Cortman added,
You can learn more about the case below:
Kristen Waggoner, president and CEO of ADF, celebrated the settlement, saying, “One case at a time, we’re taking free speech back from the pronoun police.”
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita also lauded the decision.
Brownsburg isn’t the first school district that has had to learn the hard way teachers don’t forfeit their free speech rights or freedom of religion after stepping on school grounds. And it probably won’t be the last.
Last year, Oregon’s Grants Pass School District 7 agreed to pay over half a million dollars for violating two educators’ free speech, religious freedom and equal protection rights. After the educators, Rachel Sager and Katie Medart, publicly opposed the district’s “Gender Identity, Transgender, Name, and Pronoun Guidance,” the school district fired them.
Hopefully, school districts nationwide will soon learn they must protect their employees’ constitutional rights.
Cortman said,
The case is Kluge v. Brownsburg Community School Corporation.
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Related articles and resources:
God’s Amazing Grace in a Transgendered Person’s Life
The Journey Back to My True Identity
Chloe Cole: Transgender Surgery Regret
Understanding “Transgenderism”
Responding to a Transgender-Identified Family Member
Oregon School District Pays $650,000 for Firing Teachers Opposed to ‘Trans’ Policy
Photo from Alliance Defending Freedom.
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