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A former Brownsburg High School music teacher who sued the school corporation after refusing to follow its policy for addressing transgender students is now seeking summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
John Kluge filed the summary judgment motion on Friday.
The case — John M. Kluge v. Brownsburg Community School Corporation, et al., 1:19-cv-2462 — is back in the Southern District Court on remand from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Brownsburg Community School Corporation hired John Kluge as a music and orchestra teacher at the high school in 2014, and he was employed until the end of the 2017-2018 school year.
Prior to the start of that school year, school officials became aware that several transgender students were enrolled as freshmen, leading to a discussion about how to address those students’ needs.
After a series of faculty meetings, Kluge and three other teachers approached the principal, Bret Daghe, with a letter expressing religious objections to transgenderism, taking the position that the school should not treat gender dysphoria as a protected status, and urging the school not to require teachers to refer to transgender students by names or pronouns that the teachers deemed inconsistent with the students’ sex recorded at birth.
Kluge identifies as Christian and believes gender dysphoria “is a type/manifestation of effeminacy, which is sinful.” He said he also believes calling students by their preferred names would be “encouraging them in sin.”
Daghe suggested teachers use students’ names and pronouns as recorded in the school’s student database. The three teachers who signed Kluge’s letter accepted the suggestion.
While Daghe thought all four teachers were in agreement with the practice, Kluge believed he was “on the same page” with Daghe that he could continue using students’ “legal names.”
In February 2018, following the new policies in its “Transgender Questions” publication, district officials notified Kluge that his accommodation would be rescinded and that they would not allow any religious accommodations.
Kluge eventually resigned, and he brought a Title VII religious discrimination and retaliation suit against Brownsburg Schools. He also brought claims under the First and 14th amendments and Indiana law.
In 2021, the district court denied Kluge’s motion for partial summary judgment on his religious discrimination claims.
In April, the 7th Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision that the Brownsburg school district did not violate Kluge’s religious rights.
But in July, the 7th Circuit vacated the district court’s decision and remanded it to be reconsidered in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 29 decision in Groff v. DeJoy, which solidified protections for workers who ask for religious accommodations.
Back in the district court, Kluge is raising two arguments for why the district court should enter summary judgment in his favor.
First, he argues that he is entitled to summary judgment on his religious discrimination claim because the district revoked reasonable accommodation without showing undue hardship.
“Mr. Kluge sought and received a reasonable accommodation that allowed him to teach music, abide by his religious beliefs, and remain neutral on transgender issues. But the district revoked it based on complaints from a few teachers and students hostile to Mr. Kluge’s religious beliefs, complaints that — as a matter of law — cannot serve as an undue hardship,” the motion states.
Second, Kluge argues he is entitled to summary judgment on his retaliation claim because his protected activities caused the district’s adverse actions.
“The only reason the district gave for its actions is the reaction a few people had to Mr. Kluge’s accommodation, based on their dislike for his views and that they were accommodated,” the motion states.
Finally, “under Groff, the district cannot show that accommodating Mr. Kluge’s religious beliefs caused undue hardship in the overall context of its business. For a few third-party grumblings neither demonstrate ‘undue hardship’ in accommodating his beliefs nor justify forcing his resignation.”
Kluge is requesting the court enter summary judgment in his favor, finding the school district violated his rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by failing to accommodate his religious beliefs and retaliating against him for insisting on the accommodation.
“Federal law protects employees’ ability to live and work according to their religious beliefs. Yet the Brownsburg school district ignored the law, deciding Mr. Kluge’s religious views couldn’t be tolerated, revoked his religious accommodation based on the grumblings of a few, and forced him to resign or be fired,” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Travis Barham said in a statement. “The school district’s actions violate Title VII, a federal law prohibiting discrimination against employees on the basis of religion. As the Supreme Court recently affirmed in Groff, employers must accommodate employees’ religious practices unless doing so imposes undue hardships on their overall operations. We urge the court to apply Groff to uphold Mr. Kluge’s right to religious accommodation under Title VII.”
The attorneys for the school corporation declined to comment.
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