Teacher fired for refusing to use trans pronouns receives $575,000 in legal damages

In January, the Virginia Supreme Court sided with Vlaming, ruling that the state constitution “is intended to protect diversity of thought, diversity of speech, diversity of religion and diversity of opinion.”

“Without a truly compelling reason for doing so, no government committed to these principles can lawfully compel its citizens to verbally pledge allegiance to ideological views that violate their sincerely held religious beliefs,” the court ruled.

The West Point school board has agreed to pay $575,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees to settle the lawsuit. Additionally, the dismissal was removed from his record.

“I was unfairly fired from my teaching job because my religious beliefs put me on a collision course with school leadership, which mandated that teachers only represent one perspective on gender identity – their preferred view,” Vlaming said in a statement. “I loved teaching French and tried to be polite to every student in my class, but I was not allowed to say anything that would directly offend my conscience.”

The Alliance Defending Freedom represented Vlaming.

“Peter wasn’t fired for anything he said; “He was fired because of something he couldn’t say,” said Tyson Langhofer, senior counsel for the ADF. “The school board violated his First Amendment rights under the Virginia Constitution and commonwealth law. As a teacher, Peter was passionate about the subject he taught, was well-liked by his students and did his best to respond to their needs and desires. But he could not in good conscience speak messages he knew were untrue, and no school board or government official can punish anyone for that reason.”

Photo credit: ©Alliance for the Defense of Freedom

Michael Foust has been concerned with the interface between faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.