Texas Teacher Initiates Wrongful Termination Lawsuit

An LGBTQ teacher in Texas initiated a wrongful termination lawsuit on the basis that the school discriminated against her based on her sexual orientation.

An LGBTQ teacher recently initiated a wrongful termination lawsuit against the Mansfield Independent School District on the basis that the school discriminated against her based on her sexual orientation. The teacher was placed on leave after she showed students a photo of her wife. While the teacher’s contract with the district has been renewed, she is still not allowed back to work.

The Mansfield School District placed the teacher on administrative leave after it began to receive numerous complaints from parents that she was promoting a “homosexual agenda” by displaying photos of her spouse. Parents were similarly upset that the teacher mentioned that the artist Jasper Johns had a partner who was also a man. The District denies any wrongful termination of the teacher.

The Teacher’s Response to the Case

The teacher has argued that the Mansfield School District violated not only the United States Constitution but also the Texas Constitution by treating her differently than it would have a heterosexual teacher, hence the wrongful termination aspect of the case. In response to the teacher’s actions, the Mansfield school district released an email statement in March 2018 addressing what the school referred to as a disruption in the “educational environment.” The school claimed that the teacher was suspended due to the teacher’s insistence that it is her right and that it is age appropriate to have ongoing discussions with elementary age students about sexual orientation, the sexual orientation of artists, and other details about same-sex relationships. The school administrators have also argued that they met with the teacher on several occasions after receiving the complaints, but that the teacher refused to follow the administration’s directions regarding age-appropriate conversation with students.

Current Texas Law Regarding LGBTQ Rights

Texas law currently lacks any protective measures to defend workers from discrimination based on their gender identity or sexual orientation. No bills prohibiting discrimination by employers on these grounds have even passed through the Texas legislature’s committee stage. Several measures that would have prohibited this type of discrimination, however, died in committee.

In April of 2018, a significant case occurred that displayed an increasing trend in Texas that favors the rights of LGBTQ individuals. This change occurred when a federal judge in Austin found that LGBTQ workers should be protected from employment discrimination based on their gender identity and sexual orientation. In making the court’s decision, the judge announced that federal employment laws that were created to protect workers from discrimination also extend to these issues. The case arose from an engineer who claimed that she was not hired by a company because she is transgender.

The Universal Life Church

This case highlights some of the most important issues involved in the struggle for LGBTQ rights that are occurring throughout the country. With the numerous changes that have occurred in LGBTQ rights over the last few years, these laws are likely to change significantly over the next decade. Each month, the Universal Life Church’s blog is dedicated to describing these issues in a way that keeps our readers informed.

(image courtesy of Redd Angelo)