Federal Appeals Court Revives Indiana Teacher Pronoun Lawsuit

A federal appeals court revived the lawsuit of John Kluge, a former Brownsburg High School music teacher who was forced to resign after refusing to use transgender students' preferred names and pronouns, citing his Christian religious beliefs. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Brownsburg school district did not prove that allowing Kluge to refer to students by their last names, as an accommodation for his beliefs, caused a substantial burden or disrupted the school's mission to maintain a safe and inclusive environment. This decision reverses an earlier lower court ruling and sends the case back for a jury trial, allowing Kluge to seek damages under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits workplace religious discrimination. The ruling was influenced by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that raised the standard for proving that an employer's actions substantially burden an employee's religious exercise. The court's majority opinion was authored by Judge Michael Brennan, appointed by President Trump, while a dissenting opinion was issued by Judge Ilana Rovner, appointed by President George H.W. Bush. The case highlights ongoing legal debates over religious freedom and the rights of transgender students in educational settings.