We have an update to a post from June 2024, about two teachers who were fired for opposing their school district’s “transgender” policy.
Teachers Katie Medart and Rachel Sager started a grassroots movement called “I Resolve” to advocate for the freedom to speak out against “gender identity” education policy and “offer solutions that would allow teachers to continue teaching without violating their conscience and that would respect the rights of parents.”
Grants Pass School District 7 in Oregon had no tolerance for any teacher expressing a different point of view and fired Medart and Sager. They filed a lawsuit against the school district, and a lower court ruled against them. They appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), their legal counsel, announced on Friday that these ladies have been vindicated. Administrators in the Grants Pass School District 7 must have realized that firing Medart and Sager for expressing an opinion was a blatant violation of their rights and settled the lawsuit.
According to ADF, the district agreed to pay them $650,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees. Grants Pass School District 7 will publicly acknowledge that the termination was wrong and change the district’s policy to comply with the First Amendment, among other things.
“Educators are free to express opinions on fundamental issues of public concern—like gender identity education policy—that implicate the freedoms of teachers, parents, and students,” said Mathew Hoffmann, an attorney at ADF. “The Grants Pass School District is taking the right step by acknowledging that teachers don’t give up their First Amendment rights when they set foot on school property. Public schools can’t retaliate against speech simply because they disagree with what’s said.”
Photo credit: Alliance Defending Freedom
