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Judge dismisses suit filed by fired Ludlow teacher who outed ‘genderqueer’ student
Against school guidance, the teacher informed the student’s father about their identity while her car was being serviced at his auto shop.
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by a Ludlow teacher claiming she was wrongfully fired after she outed a middle schooler’s genderqueer identity to their father, against the school’s direction.
Bonnie Manchester taught sixth-grade history at Baird Middle School in Ludlow in 2020 and had worked at the school since 1999, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
The lawsuit, originally filed in 2023 for $10 million, argued that the school violated Manchester’s First Amendment and due process rights and discriminated against her viewpoint.
A federal judge dismissed an appeal earlier this year from the same student’s parents who argued the school should have informed them of their child’s genderqueer identity.
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The student, after previously speaking to parents and teachers about their depression and questioning their identity, sent an email to school staff saying they were genderqueer, and wished to be referred to by a different name than their birth name and use he and they pronouns, according to both lawsuits.
The student, who was assigned female at birth, requested the school still use their birth name and she/her pronouns in communications with parents, the complaint said.
“I am telling you this because I feel like I can trust you,” the student wrote in an email shared with Manchester and other teachers. After speaking with a school counselor, Manchester was told to follow the student’s wishes until the student “has informed his parents of his preferred name and pronouns,” according to the complaint.
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But, about a month later, Manchester informed the student’s father about his child’s requests while her car was being serviced at his auto shop. Topics discussed also included “the phenomenon of gender dysphoria” since the pandemic and the student’s older sibling, who had questioned their own gender identity.
“Plaintiff believes that teachers have a duty and a responsibility to inform parents of issues that could affect their children’s mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing, including, without limitation, issues relating to gender identity,” the lawsuit says.
Judge Mark Mastroianni said the teacher’s actions appear “to arise from Plaintiff’s own moral code rather than state law or the federal constitution.”
“These beliefs, even if sincerely held, do not insulate Plaintiff from the employment related consequences of her choice to undercut the school’s greater (and constitutionally recognized) interest in protecting an inclusive and safe environment for transgender minors as a matter of law,” Mastroianni wrote in a decision filed Friday.
Manchester was placed on administrative leave before ultimately being fired. In exhibits filed in the case, Principal Stacy Monette wrote to Manchester that she was being investigated for “conduct unbecoming a teacher related to your inappropriate communications with the parents of a student.”
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In a longer letter notifying Manchester that she would be terminated, Monette said that Manchester “blindsided both the student and your team by doing so on your own.” She also alleged that Manchester lied multiple times throughout the investigation.
“Your untruthfulness during the investigation alone is sufficient grounds for termination,” Monette wrote. In the complaint, Manchester’s lawyers compared the administration’s investigation to the “techniques employed by apparatchiks of the KGB in the former Soviet Union.”
Mastroianni dismissed all of the counts against the school and noted that “ the complaint frequently uses overheated language and makes gratuitous personal attacks that are not legally necessary or relevant to the claims at issue in this case.”
“The court recognizes the issues implicated by this case are sensitive, and for the parties highly personal, but all participants in the civil justice system should strive to adhere to high standards of civility,” Mastroianni wrote.
Manchester’s lawyers did not return a request for comment.
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