Teacher gets $95,000 after suspension for not using student’s preferred name, pronouns

Can an employer mandate that its employees address their colleagues, customers, or students by their preferred names and pronouns? That’s the million-dollar question. Or in the case of a Kansas middle school teacher who refused to use a student’s preferred name and pronouns due to her religious beliefs—the $95,000 question. Read below to get up to speed on this recent Kansas case, as well as some tips for employers trying to navigate this hotly contested issue.

Background

Pamela Ricard, a middle school math teacher who started teaching in the Geary County School District in 2005, was suspended for three days in April 2021 and received a formal written reprimand for refusing to use a student’s preferred name and pronouns. In response to her suspension, she filed a suit against the district’s Board of Education, superintendent, and the principal at the school where she taught.

According to Ricard’s lawsuit, she received notice from the school’s counselor that a student preferred to be called by a name other than his legal first name. Additionally, another student informed Ricard that the student used “he/him” pronouns. She decided, however, to call the student “Miss” and the student’s last name “to be respectful to the student without compromising . . . Ricard’s own conscience and religious beliefs.”