Kansas teacher sues school after being punished for refusing to use student’s preferred pronouns, court rules partially in her favor

---

After a Kansas middle school teacher’s refusal to use a student’s preferred name and gender pronouns led to her suspension, she filed a federal lawsuit against school officials, claiming her right to Free Speech had been violated and that some use of preferred names and pronouns breached her religious beliefs. The court ruled partially in her favor.

Key Players

Pamela Ricard, a math teacher at Fort Riley Middle School, has taught in the district since 2005.

Student 1 and Student 2, the pseudonyms of two students who were in Ricard’s class during the 2020-21 school year, are both biologically female but use he/him pronouns.

During the 2020-21 school year, Shannon Molt was the principal at Fort Riley Middle School, and Dawn Toomey was the district’s human resources officer. Reginald Eggleston served as the district’s superintendent. 

Further Details

Part of the Fort Riley military base, Fort Riley is an unincorporated community located about 70 miles west of Topeka that leans somewhat liberal. Fort Riley Middle School has a total enrollment of nearly 600 students. 

Ricard’s lawsuit, filed on March 7, 2022 in U.S. district court, stated that on April 7, 2021, she received an email from the school counselor, noting that Student 1 had asked to go by a different name. Later that day, Ricard referred to him as Miss [Student 1’s surname]. 

Shortly afterward, Student 2 emailed Ricard, reminding her Student 1 had asked to be referred to with he/him pronouns. 

“I don’t know if Mr. lubbers [the school counselor] has emailed you about [Student 1’s Alternative First Name]’s ([Student 1 Legal First Name]) preferred name and pronouns and im assuming since you said “miss [Student 1 Legal Last Name]” to him in class he has yet to do so, unless he has and youre purposely misgendering/deadnaming him on purpose, which I don’t think you would do that purposely but there’s always a possibility. Anyways, His preferred name is [Student 1 Preferred Alternative First Name] and his pronouns are He/Him.”

The next day in class, Ricard called Student 1 by the undesired name again and disciplined Student 2 for emailing friends instead of working on math. Before leaving the classroom, Student 2 left a note on Ricard’s desk, accusing her of being transphobic.

“All youre doing right now is showing that youre transphobic & don’t care that youre being visibly transphobic,” Student 2 wrote. 

On April 9, Ricard met with Molt and Toomey about the incident. After their discussion, Ricard said she did not want to call Student 1 by a different name, but she would “follow the administration’s directives against her personal beliefs.” 

The lawsuit stated that Ricard then received notice from Toomey that she was suspended for three days pending completion of an investigation into the incident. ABC News reported Ricard had been suspended for violating the school policies on bullying and diversity and inclusion. At the time of the incident, the school did not have a formal policy on gender pronouns.

On April 15, Ricard returned from her suspension and received a formal reprimand with the listed violations. Per the lawsuit, Ricard signed the reprimand, but wrote, “I do not agree with this!” On April 28, Ricard challenged the reprimand with a formal grievance, but it was denied on May 3. She then filed another grievance, elevating it to the superintendent level with Eggleston, but he rejected it on May 19.  

With both grievances rejected, Ricard attempted to get a religious exemption, ​​The Washington Post reported. She claimed that forcing her to use preferred names and pronouns violated her strongly held religious beliefs. 

On Sept. 7, 2021, the school board unanimously voted to deny Ricard’s request for a religious exemption. According to CNN, the lawsuit also stated that in Sep. 2021, the Geary County Schools Unified School District’s Board of Education adopted an addition to the district’s Diversity and Inclusion Policy that requires educators to refer to students by their preferred names and pronouns.

With the lawsuit, Ricard was seeking to have her disciplinary record expunged and also a judgment that the district had violated her First Amendment rights to Free Speech and free exercise of her religion, as well as her rights to due process and equal protection of the law, according to RealClearEducation. 

Outcome 

Court grants partial preliminary injunction against the school district

On May 9, 2022, Ricard was granted a partial preliminary injunction against the district. The injunction, which lasts through the end of her contractual obligation, prevents the district from punishing her for using and potentially unwittingly revealing a student’s preferred name and pronouns while communicating with their parents. However, the court “relied” on statements from Ricard that “she does not intend to communicate with a parent for the sole purpose of disclosing a student’s preferred name and pronouns.”

The court did not extend the injunction to cover the preferred names and pronouns policy. The court ruled that because Ricard’s current behavior of referring to all students by their preferred first name and not using pronouns for any students was not considered a policy violation, there was no “irreparable harm” and the policy could remain in place until the court ruled on its merits.