PENDLETON, Ind. — A former Pendleton Heights High School counselor is suing the school district just months after she was let go.
Attorneys for Kathy McCord filed a civil lawsuit Thursday. In the more than 100 pages of documents, McCord's attorneys allege her religious freedoms and freedom of speech were violated by the South Madison Community School District by requiring her to participate in the school's gender support plan for students.
They're asking for a jury to give McCord her job back and pay her for the damages they've caused in emotional distress and humiliation this situation has caused.
The school board voted unanimously to fire McCord from her counselor position at the high school back in March.
The district said during that meeting they made the decision after McCord downloaded and handed over the district's gender support plan to a publication, that was then edited and that McCord later lied to the school district about her actions.
Now, McCord's attorneys are pushing back.
They say this all started when the district's gender support plan was put in place by South Madison schools.
Under the plan, students questioning their gender identity can outline if parents are aware of and/or supportive of their gender identity status, as well as who within the school may be aware of the student's gender identity.
Her attorneys say McCord objected to the plan's requirement that she not seek parental consent before using a different name or pronoun for a student, and that the district told her she would have to follow the plan if she wanted to keep her job.
McCord's attorneys argue that the South Madison Community School District was violating her constitutional rights by forcing her participation in the implementation of the gender support plan and then by terminating her in retaliation for her speaking out on the matter.
School board members clarified the issue back when McCord was terminated in March, stressing she was let go because she'd made misleading statements in an article about the gender plan and then lied to the administration about it.
McCord's attorneys allege her first and fourteenth amendment rights were violated by the district when she was terminated.
They're asking for a jury trial be held and are demanding McCord get her job back and a permanent injunction from South Madison schools to not require McCord participate in the gender support plan, as well as back pay and damages for her emotional distress and humiliation over the issue.
13News reached out to McCord's attorneys and to the South Madison Community School District following the civil lawsuit filing, but has not yet received a response to either request.