A Virginia school board has agreed to pay $575,000 to Peter Vlaming, a former high school teacher, as part of a legal settlement following his dismissal in 2018 for refusing to use a transgender student’s pronouns. The settlement includes damages and attorneys’ fees and clears Vlaming’s firing from his record.
The West Point School Board reached the settlement in conjunction with the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a Christian legal organization that supported Vlaming’s lawsuit. As part of the agreement, the school board also revised its policies to align with model transgender policies instituted by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration. These policies, which have faced criticism from LGBTQ advocacy groups and sparked student protests, allow educators to refer to transgender students by the names and pronouns associated with their sex assigned at birth.
Vlaming expressed that he was wrongfully terminated due to his religious beliefs, which conflicted with the school administration’s mandate on gender identity. He stated, “Peter wasn’t fired for something he said; he was fired for something he couldn’t say,” according to Tyson Langhofer, senior counsel at ADF.
The settlement follows a December ruling from the Virginia Supreme Court, which reinstated Vlaming’s case after a lower court had dismissed it. The state’s highest court noted that Virginia’s constitution provides broad protections for freedom of speech and religion, allowing Vlaming’s claims of free exercise violations to advance to trial. Justice D. Arthur Kelsey, in the majority opinion, emphasized that no government can lawfully coerce citizens into adhering to ideological views that conflict with their sincerely held beliefs.
In his lawsuit, Vlaming claimed he attempted to accommodate the transgender student by using the student’s chosen name and avoiding pronouns altogether. However, the student, identified in court documents as John Doe, along with his parents and the school, insisted that Vlaming use male pronouns, stating that failure to do so violated the school district’s anti-discrimination policies.
Superintendent Larry L. Frazier Jr. of West Point Public Schools stated that the district was pleased to reach a resolution with Vlaming that would not negatively impact the school community, emphasizing a commitment to building positive relationships among all students.
