High school French teacher fired for refusing to use male pronouns
Peter Vlaming, a French teacher at West Point High School in Virginia, was fired in December 2018 after declining on religious grounds to use male pronouns for a transgender student. He sued the school board; in 2023 the Virginia Supreme Court reinstated his claims, and the district settled for $575,000 in 2024.
Peter Vlaming, a French teacher of seven years at West Point High School in Virginia, was terminated by the West Point School Board on December 6, 2018, after he declined on religious grounds to use male pronouns when referring to a transgender ninth-grade student, while agreeing to use the student's chosen name. Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, Vlaming sued under the Virginia Constitution and Virginia Religious Freedom Restoration Act. A trial court dismissed the case, but the Virginia Supreme Court reversed in Vlaming v. West Point School Board, 302 Va. 504 (2023), ruling his free-exercise and free-speech claims could proceed. The district settled in 2024 for $575,000.