$450,000 Settlement for Ohio Teacher Over Pronoun Dispute
Ohio – An Ohio school district has agreed to pay $450,000 to a middle school teacher, Vivian Geraghty, who resigned after refusing to use the preferred names and pronouns of two transgender students. The settlement, finalized in December, stems from a 2022 lawsuit in which Geraghty argued her First Amendment rights were violated when she was pressured to leave her teaching position at Jackson Local School District.
The settlement follows a U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio ruling in August that found forcing Geraghty to use students’ preferred names violated her right to free speech, describing the school’s pronoun practice as non-neutral and constituting “compelled speech.”
Logan Spena, legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented Geraghty, emphasized that the school was attempting to force Geraghty to adopt a viewpoint on issues related to gender identity, which conflicted with her religious beliefs. “The First Amendment prohibits that abuse of power,” said Spena. “Jackson Local School District officials have learned that comes at a steep cost.”
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In its statement, Jackson Local Schools said it remains committed to prioritizing student safety and well-being while navigating complex legal matters.
The controversy began on the first day of the 2022 school year when two students asked Geraghty to use different names than those listed on their rosters. Geraghty, aware that the requests were part of the students’ social transition, refused due to her religious convictions and continued to refer to the students by their birth names, or “deadnames.” One of the students later emailed Geraghty, asking her to respect their preferred name, but the teacher did not comply. The student then involved a school counselor, citing the teacher’s refusal to use the preferred name.
After a meeting with Principal Kacy Carter, Geraghty explained that her religious beliefs prevented her from addressing the students by their preferred names and pronouns, stating that it conflicted with her personal beliefs about gender. She requested an accommodation, but tensions continued to escalate. In a later meeting with Carter and district employee Monica Myers, Geraghty was told that if she refused to comply, it would be “a problem.” The situation culminated in Geraghty being told that if she stood by her decision, she would have to resign.
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Geraghty’s legal team argued that the school did not offer any alternative accommodations, such as relocating her to another classroom or having her address the students by their last names. The lawsuit also criticized the school’s pronoun policy for not being consistently enforced.
While Jackson Local Schools stated it does not have a specific policy requiring teachers to use preferred names or pronouns, the district follows Title IX regulations, which prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Geraghty’s legal victory highlights the ongoing tension between individual rights and school policies regarding the treatment of transgender students. The settlement is seen as a significant outcome for those who believe their religious freedoms should be protected in the context of school regulations .
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