CHRISTIAN BREAKING NEWS: Who is Jessica Tapia? Former High School Gym Teacher who Claimed She was Fired for Her Christian Beliefs will Receive $360,000 from the School District [#JessicaTapia #JessicaShaninaTapia #TeacherFiredforChristianBeliefs #FiredforChristianBeliefs]
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Source: Jessica Shaina Tapia Facebook Account, @jessicashainatapia
The Jurupa Unified School District (JUSC) in Riverside County, CA will pay $360,000 to a former high school gym teacher who claimed she was fired for refusing to obey policies recognizing students’ transgender identities, a conservative law firm announced Tuesday, May 14.
The settlement, announced by Murrieta-based Advocates for Faith & Freedom, resolves a federal court complaint launched last year by Jessica Tapia, who accused the district of breaching her civil and First Amendment rights when she was fired in January 2023.
According to a statement from district spokesman Jacqueline Paul, the Jurupa school board approved the settlement on Monday, May 13.
According to her lawsuit, Tapia attended Jurupa Valley High School and worked for the district in several roles before becoming the school’s only female physical education teacher in 2021.
Tapia, a Christian who believes God created 2 sexes (male and female), was placed on paid administrative leave in 2022 after “some issues had been brought to the District’s attention regarding her personal social media posts,” according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, the district “sent Ms. Tapia numerous, unfounded allegations,” accusing her of posting prejudiced social media posts, “proselytizing during P.E. class” and not referring to students by their preferred pronouns even when no student asked her to.
According to the lawsuit, the district ordered Tapia to withhold students’ transgender identities from parents, refer to children by their preferred gender pronouns, refrain from sharing her faith and opinions on social media, and discuss religious beliefs with students.
These orders “caused Ms. Tapia to suffer severe mental and emotional anguish because she was torn between agreeing to conditions that caused her to violate her religious beliefs or losing the job she worked her entire life for,” the complaint stated.
Tapia has spoken at school board meetings around the Inland Empire, pushing for Christian conservative beliefs.
She frequently appears in social media posts for Our Watch, a program run by conservative southwest Riverside County pastor Tim Thompson, who assisted in electing like-minded candidates to local school boards in 2022.
Advocates and Tapia announced the Teachers Don’t Lie campaign, which “aims to provide educators with a thorough understanding of their constitutional rights, as well as give options on how to respond to their school district when being asked to go against their sincerely held religious beliefs,” according to an Advocates press release.
NEWS SOURCE & LINKS:
The Press-Enterprise
Who is Jessica Tapia? FORMER TEACHER WHO CLAIMED FIRED FOR CHRISTIAN BELIEFS WILL RECEIVE $360,000 | Christian Breaking News!