Two California middle school teachers have filed a federal civil contempt lawsuit against their school, the school district and the state board of education after their objections to gender policies led to them being removed from the classroom. The lawsuit alleges the school illegally prevented them from returning to work, despite a federal court injunction, after they challenged school policies on gender, gender pronouns and parental notification.

Lori Ann West and Elizabeth Mirabelli, teachers at Rincon Middle School in Escondido, California, initially filed a lawsuit in federal district court last May, after the school allowed them a religious accommodation only for how they addressed trans-identifying students, but not for the school’s parental notification policy, which prohibits teachers from informing parents of a student’s gender identity preferences.

The lawsuit alleges that last February, teachers were told to use the students’ preferred gender pronouns in class, but to use their given names when talking with their parents.

The school placed West and Mirabelli on administrative leave after they expressed concerns, but not before Mirabelli faced what attorneys say was harassment from other school employees.

On Sept. 14, the federal district court issued a preliminary injunction in the case, paving the way for West and Mirabelli to return to work. But the school district didn’t heed the order, the teachers’ attorneys say. 

The injunction ordered Escondido United School District “to restrain any governmental employee or entity from taking any adverse employment actions thereupon against Plaintiffs Mirabelli or West, until further Order of this Court.” But the civil contempt lawsuit states that neither Mirabelli nor West have been allowed to return to work safely, now over two months later.

The suit was filed on Dec. 6 in the U.S. Court, Southern District of California. It alleges that the school district is guilty of “violating the Court’s preliminary injunction order by not reinstating them in their regular job duties” and thereby guilty of “civil contempt.” If the court deems that the injunction was “insufficiently clear,” the plaintiffs are asking the court to issue clarification on the school district’s responsibility to return the women to their teaching posts.

The teachers are represented by the law firm of LiMandri & Jonna along with the Thomas More Society.

The initial federal lawsuit in May contends that the school district’s actions violate Mirabelli’s and West’s First Amendment rights, including free speech and freedom of religion.

“It’s unfortunate that I have to go toe-to-toe and stand up against a community of people that I love,” Mirabelli told Fox News Digital last spring. “I’ve been there for 25 years. This is a community of people I care about, people I’ve served for a long period of time. And so that gives me pause to have to stand up, but I felt that I had to make that choice.”

Photo courtesy The Thomas More Society