Attorneys for two San Diego middle school teachers who were put on administrative leave after refusing to abide by a school district policy regarding their students' gender identity are seeking to sanction the district for disobeying a court order to reinstate the teachers.
A hearing is set for Wednesday at U.S. District Court in the Southern District of California, where attorneys from the Thomas More Society filed a motion for contempt of court sanctions against the Escondido Union School District (EUSD). The district was ordered by Judge Roger Benitez, a George W. Bush appointee, last fall to reinstate Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West, who sued the school district and the California Department of Education over the district's policy.
According to the lawsuit, the policy requires teachers to refer to students by their preferred names and pronouns at school while using biological pronouns and legal names when speaking with the students' parents.
The court ruled in September the school district's policy could not be enforced while the lawsuit is under consideration and ordered Mirabelli and West to be reinstated.
"The Preliminary Injunction Order was issued on September 14, 2023. We're now in January 2024 – and our clients have still not been allowed to safely return to the jobs they love at the Escondido Union School District," Paul Jonna, Thomas More Society Special Counsel and Partner, LiMandri and Jonna LLP, said in a statement to Newsmax. "EUSD ignored and disregarded a Federal Court Order – and even failed to come into compliance after we filed our contempt application. We now know that the California AG [Rob Bonta] has been putting additional pressure on EUSD – threatening litigation if they dare to deviate from state mandates to hide the gender identity of students from their parents.
"Under these unfortunate circumstances, we had no choice but to seek further relief from Judge Benitez."
Along with civil contempt sanctions against the school district, the attorneys are requesting that the court order the school district to pay attorneys' fees incurred in trying to compel it to comply with the court's ruling and issue a clarifying order requiring the school district to bring Mirabelli and West back to work.
"The easiest method of resolving this objection is to solely hold the EUSD Defendants in contempt in their 'official capacities,'" the motion for contempt sanctions, filed Jan. 3, states. "In that context, courts have not hesitated to hold the named defendant in contempt of court when the agency fails to comply with a court order."
Newsmax reached out to Mark Olson, president of the EUSD Board of Education, for comment.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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