Jessica Tapia spent more than two decades connected to her school in Jurupa Valley, California: first as a student, then as a physical education teacher and coach. Everything changed when she refused, because of her religious beliefs, to comply with the district’s guidelines regarding transgender students.
According to her lawsuit, those rules required her to use students’ preferred pronouns, allow them to access bathrooms and locker rooms according to their gender identity, refrain from expressing her religious beliefs to students or on social media, and not inform parents about their children’s gender identity. Tapia requested a religious accommodation, the district denied it, and she was fired. She says the conflict began when she posted videos criticizing major retailers for selling LGBTQ clothing for young children.
In May 2023, she sued the district with the help of the law firm Advocates for Faith & Freedom. A year later came the settlement: 360.000 dollars, of which 285.000 is for her and 75.000 for her lawyers. In exchange, she will not be able to work for the district again, and both parties agreed not to defame each other or file any new lawsuits.
The district insists it does not admit fault: according to a spokesperson, the payment was made “in the best interest of the students” and does not deny that it acted within the law. Her attorney, Julianne Fleischer, saw it differently: “Religious freedom is protected, regardless of your career”.