In order to avoid using the student’s preferred name, she would refer to her as “Miss [legal/enrolled last name].” Richard felt this was a good compromise but it didn’t work out.
Eventually, the teacher was suspended, with the explanation that “employees should be aware and make an effort to utilize the pronouns an individual requests to be identified by.”
The lawsuit that then took place occurred because the policy violated her conscience.
“Ms. Ricard is a Christian and holds sincere religious beliefs consistent with the traditional Christian and biblical understanding of the human person and biological sex,” the lawsuit stated. “Ms. Ricard believes that God created human beings as either male or female, that this sex is fixed in each person from the moment of conception, and that it cannot be changed, regardless of an individual person’s feelings, desires, or preferences.”
The teacher went to federal court in May and won a $95,000 award. The attorney said that she was “free to speak without violating her conscience by communicating with parents in a manner consistent with how she is required to address the students at school.”
She was also allowed to avoid pronouns for students that were not consistent with their biological sex. In the policy, staff members were not able to disclose the preferred names of the students or the pronouns to their parents. The court ruled against that policy.
There have been no comments from the school since the lawsuit.
