Florida Teachers: Employment Rights and Anti-LGBTQ Laws

Can an employee be terminated in Florida lawfully for acknowledging a person’s LGBTQ identity or preferred pronouns? According to a recent article in K-12 Dive, a high school teacher in Florida recently learned that her contract would not be renewed, and that the state was reviewing her professional certification, because she made the “decision to use a student’s preferred name, in a state with strict anti-LGBTQ+ laws applying to K-12 classrooms.” The law that resulted in the teacher’s formal reprimand took effect in 2023, and it restricts “name and pronoun use in public schools that does not align with a student or employee’s biological sex.”

Is this employment decision lawful? What recourse could teachers in such circumstances have? Our Palm Beach Gardens employment law attorneys can discuss the case with you and tell you more.

Details of the Case Leading to the Teacher’s Contract Non-Renewal 

The teacher at the center of this case is a Brevard County employee who teaches AP literature. That employee, Melissa Calhoun, received a letter of reprimand after the school district conducted what it described as a “detailed investigation” after a parent reported that the teacher had used a student’s preferred name.

In issuing the reprimand and deciding not to renew Calhoun’s contract, the district accused the teacher of violating “multiple policies,” including the state law that says: “[A] person’s sex is an immutable biological trait and that it is false to ascribe to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person’s sex.” The district also cited the Florida state board of education professional conduct code, which the article explains “prevents harassment and discriminatory conduct that ‘unreasonably interferes’ with education or ‘creates a hostile, intimidating, abusive, offensive, or oppressive environment.”

Employee Rights in Florida Public Education 

Can a school district “essentially terminate” an employee (the language used by the teachers’ union president) because the employee uses a student’s preferred name? Calhoun admits that she violated the anti-LGBTQ+ law in Florida.

Ultimately, the question may concern the validity of the law in relation to the employee’s rights, as well as the applicability of the professional conduct code in matters like these. As the article underscores, “teachers have been fired over refusing to use students’ preferred pronouns or names as a result of personal or religious beliefs” in other states. In Florida, however, the state law that is currently in effect changes the calculus.

If you have been terminated, demoted, reprimanded, or otherwise subject to adverse action because you have respected a person’s preferred name or pronouns in a work environment, it is important to find out about your options under existing law in Florida.

Contact a Palm Beach Gardens Employment Lawyer for Assistance 

Employment discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination claims can be complex, but one of the experienced Palm Beach Gardens employment law attorneys at Sconzo Law Office can speak with you today about the details of your case and your options for filing a claim. Contact us today for more information and for assistance with your case.

Source:

k12dive.com/news/florida-brevard-county-teacher-license-transgender-title-ix-lgbtq-dont-say-gay-satellite-high-school/745291/