Teacher Fired for Refusing to Use Students preferred pronouns receives $575,000 settlement
The US education system is insane
Six years ago, French teacher Peter Vlaming was fired for his refusal to refer to a female student as “he/him.”
Now, Vlaming will be receiving a nearly $600,000 settlement. Vlaming apparently used “she” when referring to the student when she was absent. When the student found out she was misgendered, she requested a meeting upon catching wind of this incident.
Vlaming subsequently held a meeting with the student and parents, where one parent urged the teacher “leave his principles and beliefs out of this” and just use male pronouns to refer to the girl.
Vlaming’s principal then instructed him to “do whatever the parents ask,” and the assistant principal sent him documents from the National Center for Transgender Equality concerning “pronoun usage.”
After Vlaming had another misgendering incident, the parents took the student out of the class. Vlaming was suspended for one month while the district reviewed his conduct to determine if he violated its “harassment or retaliation” policy.
Superintendent Laura Abel mandated Vlaming to use male pronouns for the student “regardless of location or context, even outside of school.” When Vlaming indicated he could not “in good conscience” comply with such a request, the school board fired him for violating the West Point district’s non-discrimination policy.
Per an Alliance Defending Freedom press release, the West Point School Board’s settlement with Vlaming consists of $575,000 in damages and lawyers’ fees, and the expungement of his termination from his record.
On top of that, the board agreed to “change its policies to conform to the new Virginia education policies established by Gov. Glenn Youngkin that respect fundamental free speech and parental rights.”
ADF Center for Academic Freedom Director Tyson Langhofer stated “[Vlaming] 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 continued by noting that Vlaming “couldn’t in good conscience speak messages that he knew were untrue, and no school board or government official can punish someone for that reason.”
Schools in the US are total cesspools of leftist degeneracy. Both students and teachers alike can’t freely express themselves out of fear of getting severely reprimanded. Reforms are desperately needed to ensure that these environments are safe for quality education.
This starts by using punitive measures to fire teachers and administrators who push degeneracy. At the same time, alternative education modules such as homeschooling, private schooling, charter schools, etc. should be promoted. The current education system in the US is simply inadequate and must be completely overhauled.