Vivian Geraghty, a former middle school teacher in Jackson Local School District, Ohio, received a $450,000 settlement after filing a lawsuit against the district.
The lawsuit stemmed from her resignation in 2022, which she claimed was forced due to her refusal to comply with the district’s policy requiring teachers to address transgender students by their chosen names and pronouns.
Geraghty argued that doing so would violate her deeply held religious beliefs, the New York Post reported.
“The school tried to force Vivian to accept and repeat the school’s viewpoint on issues that go to the foundation of morality and human identity, like what makes us male or female, by ordering her to personally participate in the social transition of her students,” Logan Spena, a lawyer the for Alliance Defending Freedom, the organization representing Geraghty, told local NBC4 Ohio.
The lawsuit alleged that the district’s policy constituted compelled speech and violated her First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religion. Geraghty maintained that she tried to find a compromise by requesting accommodation for her religious beliefs, such as avoiding the use of names and pronouns altogether. However, she stated that the district denied her requests and gave her the ultimatum to either comply with the policy or resign,
The settlement, which was reached in late 2024, included $300,000 in damages and $150,000 for attorneys’ fees and costs, effectively ending the legal dispute. The agreement also stipulated that the school district did not admit wrongdoing but resolved the matter to avoid prolonged litigation, multiple news outlets reported.
Legal experts noted the case’s significance in balancing anti-discrimination policies protecting LGBTQ+ students with religious freedom claims under the First Amendment. Geraghty’s case became a focal point in the broader cultural debate about the rights of teachers versus the rights of students in public schools.