A Kansas middle school math teacher is attempting to use her Christian faith as a shield against what she believes was a wrongful suspension after refusing to use the preferred pronouns and names of trans students she taught.
Pamela Ricard is alleging First Amendment rights violations in a lawsuit against the Geary County Schools Unified School District’s superintendent and various board members as well as the principal at Fort Riley Middle School, claiming religious objections to the district’s policy on addressing trans students by their preferred nomenclature, according to court documents.
“Ms. Ricard believes that God created human beings as either male or female, that this sex is fixed in each person from the moment of conception, and that it cannot be changed, regardless of an individual person’s feelings, desires, or preferences,” the suit reads. “Any policy that requires Ms. Ricard to refer to a student by a gendered, nonbinary, 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.”
The lawsuit has been filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. It says that Ricard referred to a particular student as “Miss” on April 7, 2021, after which she received an email from one of that student’s classmates. The email stated that the student she addressed was now using he/him pronouns and a new first name.
The following day, Ricard says she identified that student by his last name only, avoiding first names and pronouns altogether. The student who sent the email responded by leaving a note on Ricard’s desk and walking out of class.
“His pronouns are He/Him & if you cant act like an Adult & respect him & his pronouns then prepare yourself to deal with his mother since you cant be a decent human being and respect him. All youre doing right now is showing that youre transphobic & don’t care that youre being visibly transphobic,” the note read, ending with “my pronouns are he/they btw.”
On April 9, two days after the first incident, Ricard’s lawsuit says she was brought in for a conference with school officials, at which time Ricard said she “didn’t think we should be calling students different names without parental consent.” She did however agree to follow the district’s policies, even if they violated her personal religious beliefs.
The complaint alleges she received a three-day paid suspension the same day to give school officials time to evaluate 11 possible policy violations attributed to her. When she returned to work on April 15, she received a written reprimand for the violation of three board policies and was told she must call every student by their preferred names and pronouns.
Ricard signed the reprimand, writing “I do not agree with this!”
An official policy notice titled “Use of Preferred Names and Pronouns was sent to all teachers a week after Ricard’s suspension ended. A district policy was put in place requiring the same in October.
Ricard has appealed her suspension and written reprimand three times, but had each of those appeals denied, according to her legal complaint.
“Ms. Ricard faces the imminent possibility of subsequent disciplinary action, up to and including termination, should she violate the District Policies by seeking, consistent with her conscience and religious beliefs, to avoid the use of preferred pronouns of students or employees that are different from the student’s or employee’s biological sex,” Ricard’s suit reads, alleging that she could have her employment terminated if she fails to follow the mandated use of preferred pronouns.
As of March 5, Ricard is currently teaching at least two students with preferred pronouns different from their biological sex, according to the complaint, which also claims she was unjustly punished despite there being “formal policy regarding student preferred name and pronoun use at the time she was suspended and reprimanded.”
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