After being fired, a Christian ex-teacher refused to use students ‘ preferred pronouns and hide their “gender identities” from parents. She was paid$ 360,00 in a settlement by the California school district.
The Jurupa Unified School District Board announced this week that the negotiation with former high school P.E. professor Jessica Tapia had been approved by the Jurupa Unified School District Board. After the area turned down her request to make any religious accommodations for its transgender policies and eventually fired her, Tapia sued the district next year.
” Today’s negotiation serves as a reminder that religious freedom is protected, no matter your job”, said Julianne Fleischer, legal counsel for Advocates for Faith and Freedom. ” If the school district’s steps were authorized, no professor of devotion may become qualified to serve as a public school teacher. Jessica’s account is one of honest courage. She fought back to make sure no other teacher had to give in to this kind of bias and that her university district was held guilty.
According to the lawsuit, problems with the school district started when students discovered Tapia on social media and posted about different topics from her conservative-Christian perspective. Tapia’s social advertising did not make any notice of where she was employed, the problem records. In the end, students reported her to the city, which resulted in her taking paid administrative leave.
The district charged her with posting offensive content on her pubic Instagram account, making references to her faith in conversations with students, and giving questionable opinions on gender identity, according to the complaint.
In a number of successive meetings, the city allegedly gave Tapia pro-transgender guidelines, including requiring her to employ her preferred pronouns, “lie to parents about her child’s gender identity,” “refuse to express her religious beliefs with students or on her social media,” and allowing students to use the restroom or locker room that corresponded to their preferred gender.
The problem notes that as a Christian, Tapia, “believes that God defines individual gender, and that men and women are created in the image of God”.
” Her religion also holds that God created two women: male and female. As a result of her devotion, Ms. Tapia even believes that all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation, race, or female, should be treated with respect, compassion, and love”, the problem continues. However, her faith prevents her from supporting plans that lead to her rejecting her trust, such as facilitating a child’s gender transition or disclosing information from the child’s parents.
Unfortunately, Tapia told the area she may not comply with those commands and asked for spiritual accommodations. The area denied apartments and terminated her job, the lawsuit states.
Tapia claimed in the problem that the city violated both her First Amendment rights to free speech and training, as well as her right under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids discrimination based on religion.  ,
Fleischer told Fox News Digitial that” the college district especially terminated her because of her spiritual ideas.”
She continued:
What we’re seeing with these kinds of directives at school districts across the country is a kind of spiritual test because what they’re basically saying is you have to adhere to our own faith or you’re no longer qualified to teach in public schools is a form of religious test as they implement these various transgender policies and threaten teachers and educators with dismissal from their work. And therefore, Jessica’s spiritual values become following course to the school district’s philosophy as it relates to transgender and transgender plans.
She continued,” What the district has done and this type of test basically makes it so that no teacher of faith is qualified to serve in a public school setting.”
What happened to me can happen to anyone, Tapia said in a statement.
” ]A ] nd I want the next teacher to know that it is worth it to take a stand for what is right” , , Tapia. said. We are seeing teachers ‘ freedom of speech and religious liberty violated across the country because of policies that require them to abandon their moral standards. I want teachers to have faith that the best thing we can do for students is to educate them truthfully, not with lies.
” Today, I’m joining forces with Advocates for Faith and Freedom to launch Teachers Do n’t Lie, a resource that will be dedicated to providing teachers with the truth. She continued,” I’m confident that we are making progress in ensuring that no teachers have their faith betrayed once more within schoolhouse gates.”
The Jurupa Unified School District stated in a statement to Fox News Digital that the settlement is” a compromise of a disputed claim.”
The District’s spokesperson stated that” Ms. Tapia is no longer an employee of the District and has agreed and understood that she may not seek reemployment with the District.” The District’s “discrimination” or illegal action is not contained in the settlement, which is without a doubt. The District continues to deny that Ms. Tapia has been the subject of any unlawful behavior or discrimination.
The district has not committed any wrongdoing, according to the spokesperson, by entering a settlement:
The District can continue to invest all of its resources and efforts to educate and support its student population regardless of their protected class, as determined by the District’s self-insurance authority and in the best interest of the students. The Jurupa Unified School District is still committed to offering all students a secure and warm learning environment. To safeguard its students and employees, the District will continue to abide by all state, local, and federal laws, including those that prohibit harassment and discrimination.
The case is Tapia v. Jurupa Unified School District, No. 5: 23- cv- 789 in the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California.  ,
