A Southern California school district is ponying up $360,000 to a Christian teacher who sued them for wrongfully terminating her over refusing to bow down to the district’s transgender policies.
The Jurupa Unified School District is still denying any “illegal action or discrimination” but is settling the suit with Tapia, who is a former physical education teacher. They will pay her $285,000 plus her attorney’s fees which amount to $75,000. The district asserts it “has not admitted any fault or wrongdoing” in the case.
“However, the district said it was settling the lawsuit ‘in the best interest of the students,’ so the district “can continue to dedicate all of its resources and efforts to educate and support its student population regardless of their protected class,” the Daily Wire reported.
“Tapia filed a wrongful termination lawsuit last year, accusing the district of religious discrimination in firing her after she refused to comply with several of the district’s policies on trans-identifying students,” the media outlet noted.
The way God will bring it all full circle https://t.co/S40jliIb5g
— Jessica Tapia (@RealJessTapia) May 19, 2024
“The district required teachers to use students’ desired pronouns, allow trans-identifying students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of the opposite sex, and barred them from expressing religious beliefs with students or on social media,” the Daily Wire added.
The incident began when Tapia posted videos online that were critical of major department stores and their marketing of LGBTQ clothing, especially when it came to young children. She was reported to the district for posting the videos.
“Tapia then says that she was immediately pulled out of class, but eventually allowed to return to work if she would follow a specific set of directives, which she says violated her Christian values,” CBS News reported.
“From there on out, I needed to refer to students by their preferred pronoun, whatever gender they are saying they would like to be,” she remarked to CBS News. “And then, also withhold that from their parents for the student’s privacy and safety.”
Justice served indeed!
The person who fired Jessia Tapia is the one who should be fired.
Gender ideology needs to be outlawed in schools for children.
— Paul A. Szypula (@Bubblebathgirl) May 15, 2024
“She says that no student actually asked her to change their pronoun and that she was fired for saying she would theoretically handle the situation differently,” CBS News wrote.
“The fact of the matter [is] that as Christians, we can also be in the public sector. And at this point, I feel that I was told you need to choose one or the other. Do you want to be a public school teacher or do you want to continue practicing your Christian faith?” she told the California Family Council. “So I chose God. I chose to stick with my Christian faith. And because of that, they released me from employment because, in their words, ‘they could not accommodate my religious beliefs.’”
The Christian high school teacher hopes other teachers will have the will and confidence to “educate in truth” following the settlement.
“What happened to me can happen to anybody, and I want the next teacher to know that it is worth it to take a stand for what is right,” Tapia said in a statement. “Across the country, we are seeing teachers’ freedom of speech and religious liberty violated through policies that require them to forsake their morals. I want teachers to be confident in the fact that the best thing we can do for students is educate in truth, not deception.”
Advocates for Faith and Freedom represented Tapia. They have heavily criticized the school district for terminating the teacher due to her “Christian beliefs.”
Meet Jessica Tapia! She’s a Christian teacher who was fired for REFUSING to follow the school’s ABSURD transgender policies due to her Christian beliefs!
She just won a $360K settlement, delivering a message to other teachers that “truth will win in the end.” FANTASTIC! pic.twitter.com/nqPvYad7c5
— Michelle #FJB (@MichelleRM68) May 17, 2024
“Today’s settlement serves as a reminder that religious freedom is protected, no matter your career,” Julianne Fleischer, the legal counsel for Advocates for Faith and Freedom, said in a statement.
“If the school district’s actions were legal, no teacher of faith would be qualified to serve as a public school teacher. Jessica’s story is one of faithful courage. She fought back to ensure her school district was held accountable and that no other teacher has to succumb to this type of discrimination,” she contended.
Tapia is not done fighting either. She is working with her legal team to launch “Teachers Don’t Lie.” The campaign is intended to educate teachers about their constitutional rights. It will also instruct them on how to respond to school districts that demand they act against their religious beliefs.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, https://www.bizpacreview.com and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.