Kluge v. Brownsburg Community School Corporation

Description:  Indiana music and orchestra teacher John Kluge is challenging the legality of Brownsburg Community School Corporation’s decision to revoke his religious accommodation over students’ pronoun usage. When the school district mandated that teachers call students by their preferred gender pronouns and names, Kluge requested a religious accommodation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to call all his students by their last names only—like a coach—instead of referring to female students with male names and pronouns and vice versa. The school district granted Kluge’s request based on his religious beliefs, and Kluge successfully continued teaching under the religious accommodation for an entire school year. But in response to the grumblings of a few students and faculty, the school district revoked the religious accommodation and forced Kluge to resign, ending his teaching career.

CHICAGO – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ruled Tuesday that an Indiana school district must face a jury for the way it treated former high school music teacher John Kluge. The district could be held liable for damages and substantial attorney fees for its religious discrimination. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent Kluge after Brownsburg Community School Corporation fired him for his religious beliefs.

“Title VII requires the government to accommodate its employees’ freedom to live and work according to their religious beliefs,” said ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of U.S. Litigation David Cortman, who argued before the court. “The Brownsburg school district ignored this right, deciding instead that Mr. Kluge’s religious views couldn’t be tolerated. It revoked his religious accommodation based on the complaints of a few, forcing him to resign or be fired. The 7th Circuit reversed the district court’s ruling against Mr. Kluge and sent the case back down for trial. We look forward to proving at trial that Brownsburg discriminated against Mr. Kluge.”

Kluge taught at Brownsburg High School for four years. In 2017, the school district mandated that teachers refer to transgender-identifying students using pronouns and names inconsistent with their sex. Kluge requested a religious accommodation under Title VII to call all his students by their last names—like a coach—instead of referring to female students with male names and pronouns and vice versa. The school district initially granted Kluge this reasonable accommodation, and he successfully continued teaching under it for an entire school year. But in response to the complaints of a few students and teachers, the district revoked the accommodation and forced Kluge to resign, ending the teaching career that he loved.

After Brownsburg terminated Kluge’s employment in 2021, he filed suit, then appealed the lower court’s unfavorable decision to the 7th Circuit in July 2022. A year later, the appeals court sent the case back to the district court in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Groff v. DeJoy; however, the district court once again denied Kluge’s request to protect his religious freedom. Kluge filed his second appeal with the 7th Circuit in July 2024, asking the court once again to reverse the lower court decision and reinstate the case.

ADF attorneys argued that the school district’s actions violated the Civil Rights Act’s Title VII, a federal law prohibiting discrimination against employees on the basis of religion. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed in Groff that employers must accommodate employees’ religious practices unless doing so seriously burdens their overall business. The 7th Circuit said a jury must decide whether Kluge’s reasonable accommodation was an undue burden on the school district here, exposing the district to substantial liability.

“Construing the evidence in the light most favorable to Kluge, the school introduced nothing to show that a teacher using one’s last name resulted in ‘emotional distress’ under an objective standard,” the Seventh Circuit wrote in its opinion in Kluge v. Brownsburg Community School Corporation. “[T]here is insufficient evidence to conclude that calling students by their last names, without more, would inflict emotional harm on a reasonable person.”

Michael Cork, one of more than 5,000 attorneys in the ADF Attorney Network, serves as local counsel on behalf of Kluge.

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

# # #