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.
7th Circuit to hear case of Indiana music teacher forced to resign over religious beliefs
WHO: Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys
WHAT: Available for media interviews following oral argument in Kluge v. Brownsburg Community School Corporation
WHEN: Immediately following oral argument, which begins at 9:30 a.m. CST, Wednesday, Jan. 22
WHERE: U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, Main Courtroom, Room 2721, 219 S. Dearborn St., Chicago; or view the livestream. To schedule an interview, contact ADF Media Relations Specialist Brigit Berkeley at (480) 381-3977.
CHICAGO – Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing former Indiana high school music teacher John Kluge will be available for media interviews Wednesday following oral argument in Kluge v. Brownsburg Community School Corporation at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.
After the Brownsburg Community School Corporation terminated Kluge’s employment because of his sincerely held religious beliefs, he appealed to the 7th Circuit in July 2022 after the lower court initially ruled against him. 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 appeal with the 7th Circuit in July, asking the court once again to reverse the lower court decision.
“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 will be arguing before the court. “Yet, 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. We are urging the 7th Circuit to uphold Mr. Kluge’s right to religious accommodation under federal law.”
As the lawsuit explains, the school district’s actions violate 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.
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 accommodation, and he successfully continued teaching under it for an entire school year. But in response to the grumblings of a few students and teachers, the district revoked the accommodation and forced Kluge to resign, ending his teaching career.
ADF attorneys explained in their opening brief that Kluge’s religious beliefs did not create any problems within the school district: “Third-party grumblings—from a miniscule fraction of its constituents—don’t show ‘undue hardship’ in accommodating him or justify Brownsburg excluding accommodations and forcing him to resign.”
Michael Cork, one of nearly 4,800 attorneys in the ADF Attorney Network, is serving 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.
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ABOUT Rory Gray
Rory Gray, Esq., serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, where he plays a strategic role on the Appellate Advocacy Team. Since joining ADF in 2011, Gray has worked diligently on key cases to preserve religious freedom and free speech in America. He has served as a member of the main litigation teams in Thomas More Law Center v. Bonta, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission,Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer,Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius, and Reed v. Town of Gilbert. Additionally, Gray has written briefs at all levels of federal and state courts, including an amicus brief in Newdow v. Congress of the United States, in which the Second Circuit upheld the use of the national motto, “In God We Trust,” on U.S. currency. Gray earned his J.D. from Washington and Lee University School of Law, graduating magna cum laude in 2007. Before graduating, he completed the ADF leadership development program to become a Blackstone Fellow in 2005. After law school, Gray clerked for the Hon. Bobby R. Baldock on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit from 2007-2009 and for the Hon. G. Steven Agee on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit from 2009-2011. A member of the state bars of Georgia, Arizona, and Virginia, Gray is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and various appellate and trial courts.
ABOUT David Cortman
David A. Cortman serves as senior counsel and vice president of U.S. litigation with Alliance Defending Freedom. He has been practicing law since 1996, and currently supervises a team of over 40 attorneys and legal staff who specialize in constitutional law, focusing on religious freedom, sanctity of life, and marriage and family. Cortman has litigated hundreds of constitutional law cases including two victories at the U.S. Supreme Court. In Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer, he secured a 7-2 victory that overturned Missouri’s denial of a religious school’s participation in a state funding program. Cortman also argued Reed v. Town of Gilbert, securing a 9-0 ruling that prohibits the government from discriminating against religious speech. A member of the bar in Georgia, Florida, Arizona, and the District of Columbia, he is also admitted to practice in over two dozen federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Cortman obtained his J.D. magna cum laude from Regent University School of Law.