Judge orders school to reinstate Christian teachers who blew whistle on gender policy
A federal court ordered a school district in California to reinstate two Christian teachers placed on paid administrative leave last year after blowing the whistle on a district policy to hide students' gender transitions from their parents.
On Wednesday, Judge Roger Benitez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California ruled that Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West must be allowed to return to their jobs at Rincon Middle School in the San Diego-area Escondido Union School District (EUSD) next week, according to a court order reviewed by The Christian Post provided by the nonprofit Thomas More Society.
The Christian Post reached out to the EUSD and will update this story if the school district responds.
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"The Court Orders the School District to return Plaintiffs Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West back to the classroom on Tuesday, January 16th of 2024, if they so choose," the order reads. "Both sides are expected to work in good faith going forward to resolve this matter. Plaintiffs' request for attorneys fees is denied."
Mirabelli and West filed a lawsuit against the school, the school district and the California Board of Education last April over its gender identity policies, which they allege mandate them to hide students' gender dysphoria from parents in violation of their Christian faith and First Amendment rights.
The policy to which they objected required "any district employee to whom a student's transgender or gender-nonconforming status is disclosed shall keep the student's information confidential."
Teachers were expected to use students' preferred names and pronouns in school, but to revert to their given names when speaking with their parents, according to the suit.
Mirabelli told Fox News Digital last year that she was alarmed to discover school officials were altering the names and genders of students at the middle school on official records without the knowledge or consent of their parents.
The two teachers had been barred from going to work since May after the two drew national attention for their lawsuit.
In December, attorney Paul Jonna sought civil contempt sanctions against the school for allegedly keeping his clients from safely returning to work, which he argued was in violation of a court order.
Benitez, a George W. Bush appointee, issued a preliminary injunction in September prohibiting EUSD from enforcing its gender policy against the two women while the case remained in litigation.
The women told CP in December that they wanted to return to the jobs they loved and had for decades at Rincon Middle School until becoming whistleblowers.
Mirabelli, who claimed the situation has been emotionally painful and involved being mistreated by coworkers, told CP at the time that "it's so difficult for me to be at odds with people who I care about. It's really tough for me."
"It makes me pretty upset," West told CP. "I love my job, and I want to go back. I felt like I never should have been put out of my job. And I want to go back more than anything."
West told the local FOX 5 affiliate in San Diego that she was "shocked" by the most recent ruling. "I'm still processing. I cannot believe it."
Jonna noted that while Benitez's order came in response to his request for civil contempt against the school, he was not surprised that the judge declined to hold them in contempt.
"Judges are typically reluctant to hold parties in contempt," Jonna told the outlet. "It's a pretty serious penalty, but what he did [...] I view it as a warning to them if they violate his orders again, it's going be much more serious."
