Ohio teacher sues school for firing her for not using student's preferred pronouns

An Ohio teacher filed a lawsuit against her former school after she said she was forced to quit for not using a student's preferred pronouns, which would have violated her religious beliefs. 

Vivian Geraghty was an English teacher at Jackson Memorial Middle School in Massillon until the district forced her to resign in August because she refused to participate in a student's social transition to another sex by using different pronouns and a different name than the student had at birth.

The lawsuit, filed last week in federal court by the conservative legal nonprofit the Alliance Defending Freedom, said the school "unconstitutionally retaliated" against Geraghty for exercising her free speech and for her Christian beliefs.

The school forced her to resign although no students filed complaints and education was not disrupted, the lawsuit stated. 

"Vivian treated every student with equality and respect, and it was unlawful for school officials to terminate her employment simply because she wanted to avoid using her voice to validate ideas that violate her faith and jeopardize her students’ wellbeing," said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer.

Teachers in other states have filed similar lawsuits for not participating in a student's social gender transition.

In September, a former Kansas middle school teacher received a $95,000 settlement after she was suspended for not using a student's preferred name and pronouns.