Teacher awarded $575,000 after being fired for not using student’s pronouns

Peter Vlaming, a longtime French teacher at a Virginia high school, was fired in 2018 for refusing to use a student’s preferred pronouns. On Monday, after years of litigation and a victory for Vlaming in the Virginia Supreme Court, the school board finally capitulated and agreed to settle the case for $575,000.

But the West Point school board’s five-year refusal to protect Vlaming’s free speech and religious freedom came at an exorbitant price.

In 2018, one of Vlaming’s students at West Point High School began identifying as a transgender man. Although Vlaming always used the student’s preferred name, the French teacher carefully avoided the use of third-person pronouns so as not to offend his own religious beliefs.

This courtesy was not good enough for the West Point school board and administration. When Vlaming refused to use preferred pronouns, they fired the teacher for “creating a hostile learning environment.”

That’s right. Vlaming was not fired for what he said. He was fired for what he couldn’t say – and couldn’t say.

Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom and a local attorney, Vlaming sued in state court in 2019, asserting claims under Virginia law and the Virginia Constitution.

The school board didn’t flinch and instead tried to move the case to federal court.

And no wonder. If the West Point school board succeeds, it could rely on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in another Virginia case called Grimm v. Gloucester School Board, which largely adopted gender ideology in its reasoning. This case – and its deeply flawed reasoning – would have required the use of preferred personal pronouns.

Fortunately, the school board failed in the Vlaming case. However, it took almost two years before it became clear which court would decide.

The school board then asked the state lower court to dismiss the case. The judge agreed and dismissed Vlaming’s lawsuit, ruling without comment.

Vlaming appealed to the Supreme Court of Virginia, which ruled in his favor in December 2023 and reinstated his lawsuit.

The majority decision, written by Justice D. Arthur Kelsey, was a landmark victory for religious freedom and free speech. The state Supreme Court ruled that the Virginia Constitution protects religious exercise — not just religious speech — unless it endangers public safety or order.

With this ruling, the state’s highest court rejected U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s heavily criticized majority opinion in Employment Division v. Smith off. This decision restricted religious freedom because a challenged law could be viewed as both neutral and generally applicable to all.

Instead, Kelsey’s brief for the state Supreme Court relied on the text of the Virginia Constitution and its framers’ views on religious freedom. The Virginia Constitution, the court explained, protects not only beliefs but also the right to act on those beliefs in every aspect of life.

The court also ruled in favor of Vlaming’s compelled speech claim. Only “offensive” or “hurtful” statements do not pose a threat to public safety or order, she emphasized.

Vlaming’s refusal to use preferred personal pronouns based on his Christian religious beliefs was therefore protected, even if others took subjective exception to his silence, Kelsey wrote in the opinion.

“[I]“If freedom means anything at all,” Kelsey wrote, “it means the right to tell people what they don’t want to hear.”… Even more so, it means the right to disagree without saying anything at all.”

When the West Point school board saw the writing on the wall, it finally relented. In a settlement reached Monday, the board agreed to pay Vlaming $575,000 in damages and legal fees. It also agreed to remove Vlaming’s dismissal from its employment record.

And finally, the school board took the initiative and changed its policies to align with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican’s new education guidelines that protect free speech and parental rights.

The school board fought for five years not to respect Vlaming’s rights to free speech and free exercise of religion. In the end, this battle cost the board (or, more likely, its insurer) more than half a million dollars.

Not to mention what the school board had to pay its own lawyers.

It turns out that a teacher’s persuasive speech comes at a high price and causes quite a bit of trouble.

Ultimately, Peter Vlaming’s courage in defending his right to remain silent is exemplary and has achieved much more than just money. His position led to one of the Virginia Supreme Court’s clearest statements in history that religious exercise was strictly protected by the state constitution.

This is a victory we can all celebrate. Hopefully it also serves as a stark reminder to school boards and administrators that mandating the use of gender-specific personal pronouns is simply not worth it.