A Kansas middle school teacher was suspended under the district’s bullying policies after she rejected the preferred pronouns of a biologically female student. Arguing that her religious beliefs were “actively violated,” and that only God assigns genders at birth, the teacher sued the district and claimed her victory with a massive reward.

In 2021, Pamela Ricard found herself at the center of a national conversation about gender identity, religious freedom, and educational policy. The former middle school math teacher, who worked at Fort Riley Middle School in Kansas since 2005, was suspended after “addressing a biologically female student by the student’s legal and enrolled last name,” according to NBC.

Despite being told by a school counselor that the student preferred an alternative first name, Ricard put her faith first. Believing that God assigns gender at birth and that using language contrary to the student’s biological sex “actively violates” her commitment to religion, Ricard rejected the requests to use the student’s preferred first name and instead started calling the pupil by their last name, preceded by the gendered title “miss.” The Associated Press (AP) writes that Ricard thought she found a compromise that respected the student and her religious convictions.

‘Bullying’

Though there was no formal policy in place on gender pronouns at either the school or the district at the time, Ricard was suspended under the district’s “bullying and diversity and inclusion policies.” This didn’t sit well with the retired teacher, who asked three times for a “religious exemption to the policy” as her “beliefs were never accommodated,” according to a federal lawsuit filed by Ricard in 2022.

The filing outlines Ricard’s claims that the Geary County School District “violated her constitutional rights” to free speech, free exercise of her religion, due process and equal protection under the law. It also says, “her Christian beliefs” were not considered “when [the district] suspended her for three days.”

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that teachers were “told to conceal a student’s preference by using legal names when addressing parents, if that was the student’s wish.”

“No school district should ever force teachers to willfully deceive parents or engage in any speech that violates their deeply held religious beliefs,” said Tyson Langhofer, the director of the Alliance Defending Freedom – a conservative Christian legal group – that filed the lawsuit alongside Ricard’s team of lawyers at the Kriegshauser Ney Law Group.

Josh Ney, one of her attorneys, told AP:  “Our suit contends that schools cannot force teachers to promote novel views about gender fluidity and ever-expanding pronoun categories without regard to the First Amendment or due process.”

He adds, “Throughout her career, Ms. Ricard has consistently treated every student in her classroom with respect and dignity; unfortunately, the school district has not treated Ms. Ricard with similar good faith or basic fairness.”

‘Absurdity and deception’

Only six months after suing the district for actively violating her religious beliefs, Ricard claimed a victory with a $95,000 settlement.

“The Geary County School District unsuccessfully tried to convince a federal court that a teacher should completely avoid using a child’s name during a parent-teacher conference in order to hide new names and genders being used by the school for a child in a classroom. Absurdity and deception has its limits, especially in federal court,” Ney said, adding that after the ruling, the school district revoked the parental communications policy that put the requests of students first.

He adds, “I’m glad the case clarifies the financial stakes for school boards if they attempt to force teachers to lie to parents about their students.”

What the public says

Social media users rallied behind Ricard, unanimously offering their support and praise to the teacher that the district tried to disgrace.

“This is just wrong. This teacher is not responsible for these silly and dangerous ideas. Glad she is standing her ground. Need more like her!” one netizen writes on a Facebook post announcing Ricard’s settlement.

A second writes, “Thankful for this teacher for standing up for what’s right,” while a third adds, “Horrible! So glad she won her right to be a woman of honor and trust.”

As part of Ricard’s settlement, the district scrubbed her records and issued a statement confirming that she was in good standing without any disciplinary actions. Ricard retired the same year she filed the lawsuit.

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