Christian teacher fired for refusing to use a student’s preferred pronouns gets favorable ruling from Florida judge

A Florida judge recommends a state commission exonerate a Christian teacher fired for refusing to use a student’s preferred pronouns.

In his ruling, administrative law Judge John Van Laningham said the teacher should have never been fired, calling transgenderism a “new secular faith.”

Yojary Mundaray was fired from her teaching position at Jose de Diego Middle School in 2020 after an internal investigation concluded she imposed her religious views on a student, identified as Pat, according to The Daily Mail.

But Laningham found the allegation false.

“Given that Mundaray made no attempt to force Pat to accept, conform to, or even acknowledge any Christian doctrine, the allegation that she imposed her personal religious views on Pat is untrue,” the judge wrote in his ruling, according to The Christian Post.  

“At most, Mundaray expressed her view that God is inerrant, which is about as anodyne a theological statement as one could make,” Laningham continued. “Further, she did so only in defense of the God she worships. Surely, such cannot constitute a disciplinable offense in a country whose foundational principles include religious freedom.” 

In 2019, Mundaray disciplined a biological female student for “routine classroom horseplay.” Following the incident, the student privately told the science teacher she was transgender and wished to be identified using male pronouns, CBS News reported. 

When Mundaray told the student she couldn’t accommodate the request because of her religious beliefs, the student reportedly replied with, “I think God made a mistake.”  

“I’m Christian, and my God made no mistakes,” Mundaray said in response.  

Mundaray was terminated by the district in June 2020 after the investigation. 

In his ruling, Laningham says the decision to fire Mundaray was erroneous and called for the Education Practices Commission to reinstate her.

“Advocates of transgenderism can be as doctrinaire as religious zealots these days,” Laningham wrote in his ruling. “As this case demonstrates, adhering to the traditional view that gender is biologically determined can get a person excommunicated, from a job in this instance.” 

It is not yet known when the commission may consider Mundaray’s case.