Teacher forced out of school for LGBT views gets settlement

An Indiana school district agreed to settle a lawsuit on Tuesday brought by a former high school music teacher. John Kluge was forced to resign for refusing to address students with pronouns inconsistent with their biological sex. The Brownsburg Community School Corporation agreed to settle his religious discrimination lawsuit and pay the former teacher $650,000 and train senior staff on religious discrimination.

Kluge taught orchestra at Brownsburg High School when the district issued a policy requiring teachers to address students in a way that may conflict with their biological sex.

The teacher initially brokered a deal with the district in 2017 for what’s called a religious accommodation. Under the deal, he addressed students by their last names only, similar to how a sports coach might speak, according to Alliance Defending Freedom, the nonprofit legal group representing Kluge. However, after several student complaints, the district rescinded his religious accommodation and forced the teacher to resign, ADF said.

Kluge sued the district, alleging its actions violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which protects employees from religious discrimination. The settlement came months after a federal appeals court ruled in Kluge’s favor to let the case go to trial. Along with the settlement, Kluge and Brownsburg schools submitted a joint petition to dismiss the case on Tuesday.

ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman said that common sense prevailed at Brownsburg after more than five years of strife. This settlement confirms that public schools can’t force teachers to violate their personal religious beliefs, Cortman said. Teachers don’t have to bend the knee regarding ideological mandates, and schools must learn that refusing to provide religious accommodations is illegal, he concluded.

Has the district commented on the settlement? WORLD reached out to Brownsburg Community School Corporation for comment, but did not receive a response immediately on Tuesday.

Dig deeper: Read Liz Lykins’ report on Kluge’s favorable appeal ruling last August.