This blog is originally appeared at LGBTQ Nation

Gay Spanish teacher has won $90,000 after suing her school district for allegedly punishing her for supporting LGBTQ+ students.

Eileen Brennock filed a lawsuit claiming she was subjected to a hostile work environment at Mountain View Middle School in Oregon’s Newberg School District. According to Brennock, the hostility stemmed from her speaking out against Principal Terry McElligot, who, she alleges, told staff at a September 2021 meeting that it was unacceptable to tell students it is okay to be LGBTQ+, as reported by Oregon Live/The Oregonian.

She also claims the now-retired administrator instructed staff not to display Black Lives Matter or Pride signs in their classrooms to avoid “poking the bear.” At the time, the school board had recently implemented a policy banning both types of displays, though a judge later ruled that policy unconstitutional a year after its enactment.
The lawsuit claims that after the meeting, Brennock reported McElligot’s alleged statements to Assistant Principal Lindsey Kopacek, who dismissed her concerns, telling Brennock that McElligot never made those comments and that she must have imagined them “due to cortisol and stress levels.”

Brennock responded that if a student told her they were gay, she would say, “Me too!”

Following this exchange, the lawsuit states that Brennock endured a hostile work environment and filed a complaint with the Oregon Department of Education. Even after the department ruled in her favor, Brennock allegedly continued to face harassment from school officials. The department found that the school had violated its agreement, failing, among other things, to implement required staff training on LGBTQ+ issues.

Brennock also accused the district’s former superintendent, Stephens Phillips, of using a gay slur. She further claimed that the district altered the wording in an anti-discrimination presentation to refer to LGBTQ+ identities as a “lifestyle” and LGBTQ+ people as being from the “opposite side of the fence.”

The school district denied McElligot’s use of hateful language at the staff meeting but argued that even if she had said it, it wouldn’t have been discriminatory because it was “not intended to be.”

The Oregon Department of Education disagreed, stating in its ruling that the district “misunderstands what constitutes discrimination under the law.” The ruling emphasized that the alleged comments “clearly articulated that teacher conduct toward students belonging to certain protected classes should be different than conduct toward other students.”

Although the school district did not admit liability in the settlement, it agreed to publicly commit to fostering an inclusive environment for both students and staff. The district also promised to make discrimination complaint forms available online and in print starting the next school year.