The family of a transgender volleyball player at the center of a controversy at Monarch High is once again suing the Broward School district, saying the district’s recent actions have threatened their safety.
An amended complaint filed Thursday in federal court continues to challenge a 2021 state law banning transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams. But it adds the Broward School Board, the schools superintendent and the Florida High School Athletic Association.
The three entities were named as defendants in an initial suit in June 2021 but were dropped in February 2022. leaving the state Department of Education and Education Commissioner Manny Diaz as the sole defendants.
U.S. District Judge Roy Altman, a Trump appointee, sided with the state in an early November ruling, saying it had a right to enforce the law known as the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.” But Altman allowed the family to file an amended complaint.
Since then, the school district has launched an internal investigation into the student’s participation at Monarch, and the athletic association has issued sanctions, fining the Coconut Creek school $16,500 and banning the student from high school sports until November.
Superintendent Peter Licata, who started in July, said in late November he was unaware of the lawsuit but got a tip about the student’s participation on the girls’ volleyball team. On Nov. 27, he suspended or temporarily reassigned five school officials, including Principal James Cecil, and the student’s mother, Jessica Norton, a technology specialist at Monarch.
That investigation is scheduled to be completed by late February, a district spokesman said previously.
Although the family had filed a lawsuit two years earlier, the student was identified only by initials and the name of her school wasn’t listed. But the family lost all privacy once the district investigation started, the lawsuit alleges.
“Despite a school district policy that requires confidentiality in employee investigation[s], Jessica’s name and the subject matter of the investigation was publicly released and subsequently reported by media,” the complaint said. “Jessica was forced to reveal herself as the parent of [the transgender student] and her involvement in this lawsuit, compromising her daughter’s privacy and the confidentiality she is afforded in this case.”
The student and her family are being represented by lawyers with the Human Rights Campaign, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for LGBTQ rights.
The family has suffered “extreme distress,” with photos of the family being published online, the complaint states. The student hasn’t attended Monarch since Nov. 27, the day the district launched the investigation, and is taking classes online.
“Jessica is fearful that her family will be targeted for further harassment in what can only be described as a hostile and emotionally charged political environment,” the complaint said.
The family is asking the judge to rule that the law, as well how it’s being enforced, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. That’s an argument that the judge previously rejected. The family is also asking to be awarded “nominal damages, as well costs, expenses and reasonable attorneys’ fees.”
“While we can’t comment on pending litigation, Broward County Public Schools remains committed to following all state laws,” district spokesman John Sullivan said. “The District assures the community of its dedication to the welfare of all its students and staff.”
The initial complaint argued the state had no compelling interest in banning the student’s participation. The state argued the compelling interest is to protect girls’ sports, and that those born male have an unfair competitive advantage. But the lawsuit said the girl has been on hormone blockers since she was 11 and has no advantage.
The Florida High School Athletic Association used to have guidelines that allowed transgender athletes to play prior to the state law being passed in 2021. The association is now controlled by DeSantis appointees.
The association imposed a $16,500 fine and other sanctions against Monarch in December related to the student’s participation.
The sports association also banned the transgender student from playing high school sports for a year, placed Monarch on probation for a year and required school officials to undergo a series of compliance training sessions.
The school is appealing the fine, asking the association to lower it, but not the other sanctions.
“As it currently stands the appeals process is still ongoing as we provide Monarch with their due process,” Ryan Harrison, a spokesman for the Florida High School Athletic Association, said Friday.
Lawyers for the Human Rights Campaign blasted the athletic association’s sanctions against the district in a statement last month.
The action “does not change the fact that the law preventing transgender girls from playing sports with their peers is unconstitutionally rooted in anti-transgender bias, and the Association’s claim to ensure equal opportunities for student athletes rings hollow,” Jason Starr, litigation strategist for the Human Rights Campaign Litigation Strategist, said Dec. 12.
“The reckless indifference to the wellbeing of our client and her family, and all transgender students across the State, will not be ignored,” Starr said.
