School District Will Pay $360k To Teacher Fired For Disregarding Transgender Policy

(ConservativeSense.com) – A school district in Southern California agreed to settle a lawsuit with a teacher fired last year over disobeying the district’s policy on transgenderism and will pay $360,000 to the plaintiff.

An agreement was finalized on Tuesday, May 14, in which Jurupa Unified School District will pay Tapia $285,000, and an additional $75,000 to cover attorney fees.

Last year, Jessica Tapia sued the district for wrongful termination after she refused to comply with district policies on how to handle students who identify as transgender. Tapia accused the district of firing her due to religious discrimination.

The district’s policy requires staff and instructors to use a student’s “preferred pronouns,” to allow students who identify as trans to use whatever bathrooms or locker rooms they desire and barred teachers from sharing any religious views with students in school or even on social media while employed at one of the district’s schools.

Despite the settlement, the school district wrote in a statement that it still denies “any illegal action or discrimination” allegations and that no wrongdoing or fault has been admitted as part of the settlement. They said the settlement was done out of “the best interest of the students” so the matter would go away and resources could go back toward “efforts to educate and support” students “regardless of their protected class.”

Tapia stated after the agreement was announced she hoped her settlement would give other teachers the confidence and courage to “educate in truth” and “not deception.” She said that what happened to her “can happen to anybody.”

Tapia and her legal team, Advocates for Faith and Freedom, teamed up to launch a campaign called “Teachers Don’t Lie,” to help teachers understand their rights and educate them on how to handle districts that try to require them to act against their religious beliefs. Advocates for Faith and Freedom legal counsel Julianne Fleischer said the settlement was “a reminder” that no matter what career one chooses, “religious freedom is protected.”