A Missouri appeals court this week found that a judge erred in ordering a new trial in a lawsuit over a school district's handling of bathroom and locker room access for a transgender student, resulting in the district being order to pay the student $4.2 million.
The judge in the case ruled that the district discriminated because the student, who legally changed his name name and gender on his birth certificated back in 2014, did not fit the district's stereotype of what a male should be.
Although the state recognized the student as a boy, the district denied him access to the boys' restrooms and locker rooms at Delta Woods Middle School and the Freshman Center, the lawsuit said.
According to the Insurance Journal, the student participated in boy’s physical education and athletics in middle school but was required to use a single-person bathroom outside the boys’ locker room, according to court documents. He did not participate in fall sports at the Freshman Center because he could not use the boys’ locker room or restrooms.
A decision will now be handed down to a lower court to decide whether the jury's penalty is fair.
