A public-school teacher in Kansas is suing school officials for ordering her to call students by their preferred names and pronouns.
QUICK FACTS:
- Pamela Ricard, a math teacher at Fort Riley Middle School, is suing the principal, the district’s superintendent, and members of the school board after they suspended her for refusing to use a student’s preferred pronouns.
- Ricard said she refused to use the names because it violated her religious beliefs and argued the school preventing her from using the student’s legal names “deprived her of due process and equal protection of law,” The Blaze reported.
- In April 2021, Ricard was suspended for three days when the district said she violated 11 policies that included diversity and inclusion.
- She also received reminders to use a student’s pronoun after calling a biologically female student “Miss.”
RICARD’S LAWSUIT AGAINST THE DISTRICT:
“Any policy that requires Ms. Ricard to refer to a student by a gendered, non-binary, or plural pronoun (e.g. he/him, she/her, they/them, zhe/zher, etc.) or salutation (Mr., Miss, Ms.) or other gendered language that is different from the student’s biological sex actively violates Ms. Ricard’s religious beliefs.”
BACKGROUND:
- According to the lawsuit, after the first time she refused to call a student by their preferred name, the principal sent an email to all of the school’s teachers.
- “When we have a student that requests to go by a preferred name that is different than their given name, our district honors the request. Once you are aware of a preferred name, use that name for the student,” the email said.
- Despite the lawsuit and ongoing litigation, Ricard claims she still enjoys her job.
- “I continue to enjoy teaching my students day in and day out, but the stigma of being officially labeled a ‘bully’ for simply using a student’s enrolled last name has been disheartening,” Ricard said, “I love all of my students, but I shouldn’t be forced to contradict my core beliefs in order to teach math in a public school.”
