Kansas school pays $95,000 to teacher it suspended for not using student's preferred pronouns

A Kansas elementary school reached a $95,000 settlement with an instructor it suspended for refusing to use a student’s preferred pronouns.

Pamela Ricard, a math teacher at Fort Riley Middle School, sued the Geary County School Board in March for violating her constitutional rights when it suspended her for calling the transgender student “miss” instead of by the student’s chosen male name in April 2021.

“Our suit contends that schools cannot force teachers to promote novel views about gender fluidity and ever-expanding pronoun categories without regard to the First Amendment or due process,” Picard’s attorney Josh Ney, a member of the Alliance Defending Freedom, told the AP at the time.

The suit also alleged that the school enforced a policy on pronouns that did not exist before her suspension. It suspended her for three days for violating its bullying policy, which does not mention pronouns.

The school’s principal sent staff new training and protocol materials requiring them to use students’ names and pronouns a week after she returned from suspension. It also strictly forbade teachers from informing students’ parents about new names and pronouns, reports the Washington Examiner.

The Alliance Defending Freedom announced Wednesday that school officials had agreed to pay Ricard $95,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees for reprimanding and suspending her for “addressing a student by the student’s legal and enrolled name” and forcing her to conceal the student’s transition from the student’s parents.

“No school district should ever force teachers to willfully deceive parents or engage in any speech that violates their deeply held religious beliefs,” said ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer, director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom, in a statement.

“We’re pleased to settle this case favorably on behalf of Pam, and we hope that it will encourage school districts across the country to support the constitutionally protected freedom of teachers to teach and communicate honestly with both children and parents.”

The school also agreed to issue a statement that Ricard, who retired in May, was in good standing without any disciplinary actions against her.