A Kansas high school teacher is suing the school district for suspending her after she refused to refer to students by their preferred pronouns because it violated her “religious beliefs.”
- Kansas math teacher Pamela Rickard has filed a federal lawsuit against the Geary County School District, alleging her constitutional rights have been violated.
- Rickard, 58, who works at Fort Riley High School, was suspended for three days last year for refusing to use a student’s preferred name and pronoun.
- Despite being told that the student preferred to be called he/he, Ricard continued to address the student as “Miss”.
- The lawsuit alleges that Rikard is a Christian and believes that God assigns gender at birth.
A Kansas high school teacher who was suspended for refusing to use a student’s preferred name and pronouns because it conflicted with her Christian beliefs is suing the school district.
Fort Riley High School math teacher Pamela Rickard said in a federal lawsuit filed last week that the Geary County School District violated her constitutional rights by not accepting her “sincere religious beliefs consistent with traditional Christian and Biblical understanding of human personality and biological sex.” ‘ when she sent her on vacation for three days.
Attorney Mark Edwards said the county would not comment on the lawsuit. The school is located in Fort Riley, a US Army base, 130 miles west of Kansas City.
Ricard, 58, who has been teaching at the school since 2005, was reprimanded and suspended last April for calling a “biologically female” student “Miss” to avoid using the student’s preferred name after Picard was told that the student used him/him. pronouns.
Pamela Rickard, a math teacher at Fort Riley High School in Kansas (pictured), filed a federal lawsuit alleging her constitutional rights were violated because she refused to use a student’s preferred pronouns.
According to the lawsuit, Ricard believed that referring to a student as “Miss (legal/enrolled name)” signified respect for the student and also supported Ricard’s religious beliefs.
The school counselor told Ricard that the student preferred a name other than his legal and registration name. According to the lawsuit filed by the Kriegshauser Ney Law Group, the student never told Ricard about his preference, but a classmate told Ricard that the student preferred he/him pronouns.
The lawsuit says that Ricard believes that God determines sex at birth, and any policy that requires her to use a language other than the student’s biological sex “actively violates Ms. Ricard’s religious beliefs.”
At the time, neither the school nor the district had an official gender pronoun policy. Ricard was suspended due to the district’s bullying, diversity, and inclusion policies.
A week after her suspension, the high school principal sent staff new instructional and protocol materials requiring them to use student preferred names and pronouns.
During her discipline appeal, Ricard asked three times to grant her a religious exemption from politics, but according to the lawsuit, her beliefs were never taken into account.
The School District Board of Education approved a policy in September requiring the use of student preferred names and pronouns. At this meeting, the board also voted to reject Ricard’s request for religious accommodation.
According to the lawsuit, the district is threatening to punish Rickard again and possibly even fire her if she refuses to use student-preferred pronouns or chooses to use gender-neutral language.
“I still enjoy teaching my students day in and day out, but being labeled officially ‘bully’ just for using an enrolled student’s last name is discouraging,” Rickard told CNN. “I love all my students, but I shouldn’t be forced to go against my core beliefs to teach math in a public school.”
Rickard sues the school board, as well as Superintendent Reginald Eggleston and Fort Riley High School Principal Kathleen Brennan. The suit alleges that the county’s actions violated Ricard’s constitutional rights to freedom of speech, the free exercise of one’s religion, due process of law, and equal protection under the law.
“Our lawsuit alleges that schools cannot force teachers to promote new perspectives on gender fluidity and ever-expanding categories of pronouns without regard to the First Amendment or due process,” said Josh Ney, one of her attorneys. “Throughout her career, Ms Ricard has consistently treated every student in her class with respect and dignity; unfortunately, the school district did not treat Ms. Rickard with the same integrity or basic fairness.”
Rikard asks for the disciplinary sanction to be removed from her and demands compensation for “nominal damages”.