By Minyvonne Burke -
NBC News
A former Ohio high school teacher says she was forced to resign after telling her boss that she would not address students by their preferred pronouns because it violated her religious beliefs.
Teacher Vivian Geraghty sued the principal of Jackson Memorial School, the board of education and two district employees.
Geraghty, who professes the Christian faith, worked at the school in Massillon, Ohio, as an English language teacher until her resignation on August 26.
Before her departure, she
“taught her class consistent with her religious practices
and her scientific knowledge of human identity, gender, and sex,” claims a federal lawsuit filed Monday.
Jackson Memorial High School Courtesy of Google Maps
About a week before her resignation, two of Geraghty's students asked her to use names associated "with their new gender identities instead of their legal names," the lawsuit states.
One of her students also wanted to be addressed by her preferred her pronoun.
The lawsuit alleges that the school had adopted a policy requiring teachers to use students' preferred pronouns.
Because the petition went against her religious beliefs, Geraghty met with principal Kacy Carter "in the hope of reaching a solution that would allow her to continue teaching without violating her religious beliefs and constitutional rights," according to the lawsuit.
Geraghty told Carter that she would not use the students' preferred pronouns and, according to the lawsuit, was later summoned to another meeting with Carter and Monica Myers, a district employee.
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During the meeting, Geraghty was told that "she would be required to set aside her beliefs as a public official" and that her refusal to do so would constitute insubordination, the lawsuit says.
Geraghty said again that she would not use the students' preferred pronouns and she was returned to her class.
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According to her complaint, minutes later she was removed from class and told to change her mind or resign.
Believing that she had no choice, Geraghty submitted a letter of resignation from her.
She was subsequently escorted out of the building, according to the lawsuit.
Geraghty's lawyers allege in the lawsuit that the school failed to explore other possible solutions, such as moving Geraghty to another classroom or having him address students by their last names.
The lawsuit also alleges that the policy is not enforced fairly and that Carter is allowed to avoid the use of pronouns entirely.
The Alliance Defending Freedom organization, which brought the lawsuit on Geraghty's behalf, asserted that she should not have been put in a position to choose "between her faith and her work."
"No school official can force a teacher to give up her religious beliefs to keep her job," the group's legal counsel, Logan Spena, said in a statement on Facebook.
"The First Amendment prohibits that abuse of power."
The Board of Education, District Superintendent Christopher DiLoreto, Myers and Carter could not immediately be reached for comment Saturday.
