Former high school French teacher Peter Vlaming has been awarded $575,000 following a lawsuit against the West Point School Board after he was fired for refusing to use a student’s preferred pronouns.
Vlaming filed the $1 million lawsuit in 2019 after he was terminated for his stance on pronouns. According to court documents, he opted to use the student's preferred name and avoided the use he/him pronouns altogether, as reported by USA Today.
The school leadership had allegedly insisted that Vlaming comply with the student’s request and demanded he use the student's preferred pronouns. However, Vlaming maintained his position, which ultimately led to his dismissal.
Vlaming was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal group that advocates for religious and free speech rights, who confirmed that the West Point School Board has agreed to the settlement, which includes damages and attorney fees.
West Point Public Schools Superintendent Larry L. Frazier Jr. expressed relief at reaching an agreement that would not adversely affect the school community, in a statement to USA Today.
He emphasized that the district has since adopted new transgender policies in line with directives from Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, who enacted guidelines to protect parents' fundamental right to be informed about and involved with name or pronoun changes regarding their children while at school.
Caleb Dalton, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, marked the settlement as a significant victory for free speech in Virginia. He argued that educators should not be compelled to endorse beliefs that contradict their personal convictions.
“No government should force its employees—or anyone else—to voice their allegiance to an ideology that violates their deepest beliefs,” he stated.
