PHILADELPHIA – A former middle school teacher in Philadelphia contends his firing was due to objections he made in reference to a pro-LGBTQ student policy, which he states are in violation of his Christian beliefs.
Ivan Collier filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on March 9 versus the School District of Philadelphia.
Prior to the filing of litigation, the plaintiff adds he filed a written Charge of Discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, asserting claims of religious discrimination and retaliation, and was issued a Notice of Right to Sue on Dec. 23, 2022.
“Plaintiff holds sincere Christian religious beliefs. Plaintiff was formerly employed by defendant as a middle school teacher. Plaintiff was discharged from his employment with defendant because of his sincerely-held Christian religious beliefs, and denied an accommodation for those beliefs. Plaintiff’s employment was terminated because his religious beliefs conflicted with respondent’s Policy 252, a pro-LGBTQ policy,” the suit says.
“Plaintiff’s employment was terminated because he complained of the foregoing and because he had a religious objection to instructing young students about gender-based and sexual behavior he found objectionable based on his Christian religious faith and/or because it was religiously objectionable to him to refer to students in a manner not corresponding to their birth gender. Policy 252 violates the rights of plaintiff and other Christian teachers and is therefore discriminatory and unlawful.”
The suit explains Policy 252 states that “…the intentional or persistent refusal to respect a student’s gender identity (for example, intentionally referring to the student by a name or pronoun that does not correspond to the student’s gender identity) is a violation of this policy.”
“Policy 252 contains no exemption or accommodation to account for the religious beliefs of teachers. Defendant made no effort to accommodate plaintiff’s religious beliefs despite knowledge of same. Plaintiff was subjected to discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” the suit states.
For counts of religious discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 and the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the plaintiff is seeking judgment rendered in his favor, actual damages, including lost pay and damages for pain, suffering and humiliation, punitive damages, all other legal, equitable or injunctive relief the Court deems just and proper, including but not limited to an order declaring Policy 252 unlawful in that it violates the religious beliefs of Christian teachers, costs and expenses, reasonable attorney’s fees and a trial by jury.
The plaintiff is represented by Wayne A. Ely in Richboro.
The defendant is represented by Kristen Diane Junod of the School District of Philadelphia’s Office of General Counsel, in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:23-cv-00896
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com