Former teacher to collect life-changing settlement after Virginia district fired him for refusing to use preferred pronouns

A former high school teacher in Virginia will soon collect a settlement of nearly $600,000 after he was fired for refusing to refer to a female student using male pronouns.

For nearly seven years, Peter Vlaming taught French in West Point, Virginia, a city of about 3,400 residents about 40 miles east of Richmond. In the fall of 2018, a female student Vlaming already knew enrolled in his French II course.

In their previous interactions, the girl, referred to in court documents as "John Doe," had apparently accepted the use of a female French name and female pronouns, but by the time she arrived for French II, Vlaming had learned that she "desired to be called by a more culturally masculine name," court documents said.

Vlaming — whose religious beliefs uphold that "sex is fixed in each person, and that it cannot be changed, regardless of our feelings or desires" — tried to accommodate the student by avoiding pronouns in reference to her altogether and instead calling her by either her masculine English or French name.

This alternative was apparently unacceptable to the student's parent and school administrators.

The parent told Vlaming he "should leave his principles and beliefs out of this and refer to [Doe] as a male," the documents said.

Assistant Principal Suzanne Aunspach then informed Vlaming that his "personal religious beliefs end at the school door" whenever they conflict with school policy, and Principal Jonathan Hochman later recommended that Vlaming be placed on administrative leave after he accidentally slipped up and referred to Doe as "her" during class but did not apologize in a manner that satisfied Hochman.

In subsequent conversations with then-Superintendent Laura Abel, Vlaming insisted that he could not in good conscience use masculine pronouns in reference to Doe but would be willing to continue using her chosen masculine names.

Abel then sent him a letter in which she explicitly directed him to use masculine pronouns for Doe. When he still refused, she recommended he be terminated on the grounds that he violated district policy regarding "harassment or retaliation against students and others on the basis of gender identity."

The West Point School Board complied with her recommendation, voting to terminate Vlaming for refusing to use the preferred pronouns and for insubordination.

'Peter wasn’t fired for something he said; he was fired for something he couldn’t say. The school board violated his First Amendment rights under the Virginia Constitution and commonwealth law.'

In September 2019, Vlaming sued the district, claiming that it had breached his contract and violated his rights to free speech, free exercise, and due process. With the help of Alliance Defending Freedom, a religious liberties legal group, Vlaming's case made its way through the Virginia legal system.

Vlaming endured a setback when a lower court dismissed his suit, but last December, the commonwealth supreme court reinstated it, ruling that the Virginia Constitution "seeks to protect diversity of thought, diversity of speech, diversity of religion, and diversity of opinion."

On Monday, Alliance Defending Freedom announced that Vlaming and the district had reached a settlement. The district will pay Vlaming $575,000 in damages and attorney fees and wipe the termination from his record.

Current Superintendent Larry Frazier confirmed the settlement to the Washington Times. "We are pleased to be able to reach a resolution that will not have a negative impact on the students, staff or school community of West Point," Frazier wrote in an email.

So far, Vlaming appears pleased with the hard-fought result.

"I was wrongfully fired from my teaching job because my religious beliefs put me on a collision course with school administrators who mandated that teachers ascribe to only one perspective on gender identity—their preferred view," Vlaming said in a statement, according to ADF. "I loved teaching French and gracefully tried to accommodate every student in my class, but I couldn’t say something that directly violated my conscience.

"I’m very grateful for the work of my attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom to bring my case to victory, and hope it helps protect every other teacher and professor’s fundamental First Amendment rights."

ADF senior counsel Tyson Langhofer likewise cheered the court's ruling and the settlement.

"Peter wasn’t fired for something he said; he was fired for something he couldn’t say. The school board violated his First Amendment rights under the Virginia Constitution and commonwealth law," Langhofer said in a statement.

"[Vlaming] couldn’t in good conscience speak messages that he knew were untrue, and no school board or government official can punish someone for that reason," Langhofer's statement added. "We’re pleased to favorably settle this case on behalf of Peter and hope other government and school officials will take note of the high cost involved in failing to respect an American’s constitutionally protected freedoms."

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