A Wisconsin teacher has reached a settlement with his former employer after he says he lost his job because he refused to refer to transgender students by their names and pronouns, his attorneys said.
Jordan Cernek was a middle school and high school English and language arts teacher for the Argyle School District from August 2021 until August 2023, according to a federal lawsuit filed July 8, 2024.
McClatchy News reached out to Argyle School District for comment on March 10 but did not immediately hear back.
During an August 2022 meeting, staff members were told the district was implementing a new policy in which teachers would have to use “different names and pronouns for any students who requested them,” the lawsuit said.
Cernek expressed that he disagreed with the policy due to his religious beliefs, the civil complaint said.
Cernek was then told at the end of the first week of school that two transgender students in his class would be changing their names, according to the lawsuit.
During the second week of school, he told a district official that he could not use transgender students’ new names and pronouns because it would “violate his Christian beliefs,” the lawsuit said.
For some time, he would speak to students without using a name, which he and the district agreed upon, the lawsuit said. However, he was then told that this was not allowed and that he had to use the students’ names, according to the lawsuit.
Cernek continued to “act in accordance with the accommodation he agreed to” with the district and “did not refer to students by name when interacting with them,” the lawsuit said. He later “asked one of the transgender students in his class about whether calling the student by the student’s last name would be a good middle ground for the both of them, to which the transgender student agreed.”
But a parent of the student told Cernek that the “last name accommodation was not enough” and told him not to discuss the matter with the student again.
In March 2023, Cernek learned that his contract with the district may not be renewed, the lawsuit said. On April 13, 2023, he received a letter that stated the reason for considering non-renewal was because “the School Board has been advised that [Mr. Cernek’s] performance has been less (than) satisfactory,” the lawsuit said.
During a school board meeting in May, Cernek explained to the board that “(b)efore (he is) a teacher, however, (he is) an ambassador of the true King, Jesus Christ,” the complaint said.
The board voted not to renew his contract.
Court records show the case was dismissed in February, and Superintendent Randy Refsland confirmed to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the district settled with Cernek for $20,000.
