Kluge v. Brownsburg Community School Corporation
Plaintiff, a former teacher for the defendant school district, filed a lawsuit under Title VII after he resigned from his job because he refused to follow a school policy requiring teachers to use first names of students who had changed their names because they were transgender. The school had initially allowed plaintiff to refer to transgender students by their last names after he raised religious objections to the first name policy, but the school rescinded this accommodation after receiving complaints from students and teachers. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the school district. The Seventh Circuit considered whether requiring the school district to accommodate plaintiff’s religious practices would impose an “undue hardship” on the business and found that because a material factual dispute existed on this question the trial court erred when it granted summary judgment in favor of the school. (ST. EVE, concurring and ROVNER, dissenting)