A French teacher who refused to use a transgender student’s pronouns has reached a staggering $575,000 settlement with the Virginia school that fired him.
Peter Vlaming, who taught at West Point High School for about seven years, was fired in 2019 after he refused to use he/her pronouns for a student who had transitioned.
Instead, Vlaming insisted on using the student’s preferred name, prompting school leaders to order him to stop avoiding pronouns. When Vlaming refused to budge, he was fired.
The fired French teacher proceeded to file a blockbuster $1 million lawsuit against the West Point School Board.
Peter Vlaming, who taught at West Point for about seven years, was fired in 2019 after he refused to use he/her pronouns for a student who had transitioned.
The fired French teacher proceeded to file a $1 million lawsuit against the West Point School Board.
The agreement was signed on Monday between Vlaming, who now works at a publishing house, and the school board.
The settlement ruled that the teacher will receive $575,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees. West Point also removed Vlaming’s firing from its record.
Vlaming was represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative nonprofit legal group.
in a statementThe French teacher claimed he was fired from his position for “religious beliefs.”
“I was unfairly fired from my teaching job because my religious beliefs put me on a collision course with school administrators who required teachers to adhere to only one perspective on gender identity — their preferred view,” Vlaming said.
He went on to state that he “loved” teaching French and that he “gracefully tried to accommodate all the students” in his class.
Vlaming insisted on using the student’s preferred name, prompting school leaders to order him to stop avoiding pronouns. When Vlaming refused to budge, he was fired.
“But I couldn’t say something that directly violated my conscience,” Vlaming said, before thanking his lawyers.
Tyson Langhofer, senior adviser at Alliance Defending Freedom, was more direct.
‘Peter wasn’t fired for something he said; He was fired for something he couldn’t say. “The school board violated his First Amendment rights under the Virginia Constitution and Commonwealth law,” Langhofer said.
Last December, the Virginia Supreme Court reinstated Vlaming’s lawsuit, which had previously been dismissed by the King William County Circuit Court.
The decision stated that no government “committed to these principles can legally compel its citizens to swear verbal allegiance to ideological views that violate their sincerely held religious beliefs.”
The justices ruled that the lower court had “erred in dismissing this claim.”
The settlement ruled that the teacher will receive $575,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees.
In its ruling, the Virginia Superior Court determined that “objectionable” and “hurtful” language is sometimes the price one must pay for free speech.
The opinion stated: “When religious freedom is conflated with the protection of free speech, as is the case in this case, mere ‘objectionable’ and ‘hurtful’ religious speech or, as in this case, lack of speech, does not is enough to meet this standard.”
In a statement to daily pressWest Point Schools Superintendent Larry Frazier expressed relief at the ruling.
“We are pleased to be able to reach a resolution that will not have a negative impact on students, staff or the West Point school community,” Frazier said.