Two Oregon teachers who were dismissed after objecting to their school district’s policy allowing trans-identified students to use facilities based on gender identity rather than biological sex have settled with district officials. The agreement awards them $650,000.
The conservative legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom announced Friday that teachers Rachel Sager and Katie Medart reached the agreement with the Grants Pass School District. The two were terminated in 2021 for their involvement in the “I Resolve” campaign challenging the district’s approach to gender identity issues.
Under the settlement, the district will provide a “public statement acknowledging that the educators’ wrongful termination fell short of its standards and responsibilities,” issue letters of recommendation, remove negative references from personnel records, and revise relevant policies to ensure compliance with First Amendment protections.
The disputed policy declares that “the District will not prohibit students from accessing restrooms, locker rooms or other facilities which may be separated by gender, that are associated with the student’s preferred gender identity.”
Sager and Medart created the “I Resolve” campaign, which included a YouTube video presenting “alternative proposals regarding students’ preferred pronouns and names as well as restroom use.” Their participation prompted complaints from colleagues who argued that the two violated district rules restricting political activity during work hours or with school resources.
Following an internal investigation that concluded they had breached district policies, Sager and Medart were placed on leave and subsequently fired. Later that year, they were reassigned to positions within the district’s online school, where their direct interaction with students was substantially reduced.
The teachers later filed a lawsuit alleging violations of their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, Article I, Section 8 of the Oregon Constitution, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Friday’s settlement resolves damages and attorney fees and follows a significant legal development from earlier this year.
Five months ago, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court decision that had denied the teachers’ request for First Amendment damages.
The appellate panel determined that the district had infringed the teachers’ constitutional rights by engaging in content- and viewpoint-based discrimination and further held that the district violated Title VII by firing them over their “biblically-based views on gender and sexuality.” The case was remanded for continued proceedings in the lower court.
