An Ohio teacher, who stood firm in her refusal to use students’ preferred pronouns, has won a $450,000 settlement in a legal battle against her former school district, New York Post reports.
Vivian Geraghty, a middle school language arts teacher, filed the lawsuit in 2022 after she was forced to resign for not following the Jackson Local School District’s pronoun policy.
The dispute began when Geraghty was asked to address two students using names and pronouns that aligned with their gender identities, rather than their legal names. One student also requested a change in pronouns. Geraghty, however, refused, citing her religious beliefs and constitutional rights.
Logan Spena, a legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, the organisation representing Geraghty, said, “The school tried to force Vivian to accept and repeat the school’s viewpoint on issues that go to the foundation of morality and human identity, like what makes us male or female, by ordering her to personally participate in the social transition of her students.”
The teacher’s stance led to her resignation, but the legal battle continued. In August, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio ruled that the district’s pronoun policy was “not neutral” and forcing Geraghty to use the students’ preferred names and pronouns amounted to “compelled speech.”
“The First Amendment prohibits that abuse of power, and Jackson Local School District officials have learned that comes at a steep cost,” Spena added.
Under the terms of the settlement, Geraghty will receive $450,000. The case highlights the ongoing debate around the balance between personal beliefs and educational policies concerning gender identity.
