Virginia teachers sue school board for compelling pronoun usage in violation of their faith

ADF attorneys represent three educators challenging Harrisonburg City School Board policy

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing three Virginia teachers filed a brief Friday with the Rockingham County Circuit Court in support of their motion asking it to respect the educators’ constitutionally protected right to do their job in accordance with their religious beliefs.

Deborah Figliola, Kristine Marsh, and Laura Nelson are employed by the Harrisonburg City School Board and filed a lawsuit in June 2022, challenging the board’s actions that violate Virginia’s Free Speech Clause and the Virginia Religious Freedom Restoration Act by compelling them to speak a message to which they object.

“As the Virginia Supreme Court recently affirmed, school boards may not compel an employee, over her objection, to refer to a student by pronouns that don’t correspond with the student’s sex,” said ADF Senior Counsel Vincent Wagner. “Yet the Harrisonburg City School Board is doing just that. It is trying to force Deborah, Kristine, and Laura, teachers whom we represent in this case, to violate their religious beliefs by compelling them to use pronouns inconsistent with students’ sex and prohibiting them from notifying parents or seeking their consent. Virginia’s Constitution and other laws contain robust free speech and free exercise protections for public employees, and let teachers do their jobs. Because of those protections, we urge the court to rule for our clients.”

In a series of on-the-job trainings, the school board directed teachers to “immediately implement” these practices: Always use students’ preferred pronouns, even when contrary to a student’s sex and do so without notifying parents or seeking their consent. These trainings arose from the school board’s nondiscrimination policy, which threatens discipline—including termination—for noncompliance.

“[Figliola, Marsh, and Nelson] like all School Board employees, face a choice: comply with the trainings’ ‘Best Practices’ or risk losing their jobs,” the brief in support of the motion for summary judgment filed in Figliola v. The School Board of the City of Harrisonburg explains. “But [the teachers] object to complying. Under Vlaming, that’s enough for this Court to conclude that the School Board is violating Virginia’s Free Speech Clause. And because [the teachers’] objections arise out of their sincerely held religious beliefs, Vlaming also teaches that they have successful claims under Virginia’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act.”

In another similar case litigated by ADF attorneys, the West Point School Board in Virginia recently agreed to pay $575,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees to settle a lawsuit brought by a former high school teacher who was fired for avoiding the use of pronouns to refer to one of his students. The favorable settlement followed the Virginia Supreme Court’s landmark decision affirming that the Virginia Constitution contains robust free speech and free exercise protections for public employees.

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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