Federal Judge Orders Reinstatement of California Teachers Placed on Leave over Pronoun Policy
A federal judge has mandated the reinstatement of two California middle school teachers who were placed on administrative leave after suing their school district over a preferred pronoun policy.
Last year, the Escondido Union School District implemented a policy that requires teachers to affirm the so-called “gender identity” of students. The policy stipulated that educators and administrators must refer to students by their preferred pronouns and preferred names. However, the policy also noted that if the student does not consent to having their parents know about this decision, teachers must use biological pronouns and legal names when parents are present. Failure to adhere to this rule would constitute discrimination and harassment.
However, following the implementation of this policy, two teachers at Escondido Rincon Middle School, Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West, filed a lawsuit against the district and the California Board of Education. The lawsuit argues that the policy violates the teachers’ First Amendment rights, and the pair were subsequently placed on administrative leave while the lawsuit played out.
In September, a federal judge sided with the teachers, striking down the school’s privacy policy for potentially violating constitutional rights. Despite the judge’s ruling, the school district chose not to reinstate the two teachers, and instead, placed them on leave once again.
The teachers’ attorney, Paul Jonna, said that the lawsuit immediately provoked the district to retaliate against the two educators.
“When the case was first filed, there was some retaliation and harassment directed at our clients,” Jonna explained.“The investigation was supposed to be concluded in 30 days. It ended up taking over five months after the injunction [was] issued. They told us the investigation was cleared, and then conveniently, the very next day or [a] couple days later, they said, a new complaint had been made against Lori, and she’s going to be placed on leave again.”
These actions by the school district also prompted Jonna to request that the judge hold the school district in contempt, which the judge denied. The federal judge did, however, order the district to allow the teachers to return to work.
“I’m shocked! I’m still processing. I cannot believe it,” Lori Ann West told San Diego’s FOX 5.
While the school district will presumably argue that their policy was intended to “protect” students who identify as transgender and may have parents who disagree with this ideology, it is important to understand the dangerous standard being set with this policy. Public school teachers do not have the right to withhold information from parents about their children, and teachers should not be forced to engage in speech they disagree with.
