Jessica’s Story

After her own formative experience at Jurupa Valley High School as a student athlete, Ms. Tapia developed a strong desire to teach and mentor students at the Jurupa Unified School District (“District”). Her passion for both teaching and sports led Ms. Tapia to pursue a physical education teaching position at the same high school she attended as a student. Ms. Tapia began working for the District in 2014 in varying capacities, and in 2021, she began working in her dream teaching position—a physical education teacher at Jurupa Valley High School. Ms. Tapia was a caring, dedicated, and hard-working teacher in the District during her tenure. Her students respected and adored her, and she received numerous positive reviews and recommendations from the District.

Ms. Tapia not only holds her role as teacher dear to her heart, but she also believes her faith to be a deep and significant part of her life and a faith that informs all aspects of her life, including her roles as a wife, mother, and teacher. As a Christian, Ms. Tapia believes that all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation, race, or gender, should be treated with respect, kindness, and love. Consistent with her faith, she also believes that God defines sexuality, and that men and women are created in the image of God. Her faith precludes her from endorsing policies that cause her to reject her faith, such as facilitating a student’s gender transition or withholding information about it from the student’s parent. Ms. Tapia believes that the relationship between parents and children was created by God.

Toward the end of the 2021-2022 school year, Ms. Tapia received a Notice of Unprofessional Conduct from the District, in which the District issued twelve meritless allegations against Ms. Tapia. The District accused Ms. Tapia of posting offensive content on her personal Instagram account, referencing her faith during conversations with students, and expressing controversial opinions on issues pertaining to gender identity. The District alleged that Ms. Tapia’s social media posts were racist, offensive, disrespectful, and mocking toward individuals based upon their sexual orientation. However, these allegations were a gross mischaracterization of Ms. Tapia. Ms. Tapia’s faith requires her to love all people, regardless of sexual orientation, race, or gender.

Following these unfounded allegations, the District gave Ms. Tapia a set of Directives for her to follow in order to maintain employment with the District. These Directives are not state or federal law. Among the Directives, the District required Ms. Tapia to lie to parents about their children’s gender identity, refer to students by their preferred pronouns, and refrain from expressing her religious beliefs with students or on her social media, and allow students to use the bathroom or locker room that matched their preferred sex.

When Ms. Tapia informed the District, that due to her faith, she could not comply with the Directives, the District, instead of accommodating her religious beliefs, the District retaliated against her and terminated her tenured teaching position.

Ms. Tapia filed a lawsuit against the District asserting that the District violated her rights under the Free Exercise Clause, Free Speech Clause, Due Process Clause, First Amendment Retaliation, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act. The basis for Ms. Tapia’s claims was that the District unconstitutionally terminated Ms. Tapia when she was unable to comply with the District’s Directives due to her sincerely held religious beliefs.

Ms. Tapia, alongside her attorneys at Advocates for Faith & Freedom, successfully concluded a year-long legal battle with the District by reaching a settlement. The District agreed to settle the lawsuit by paying a multi-six figure sum. This settlement is significant for several reasons. First, it demonstrates that there is a financial cost to the District for burdening a public school teacher’s constitutional rights. Second, while a settlement is not considered an admission of liability, our position is that the District would not have settled had it believed it had done nothing wrong. Third, this settlement is a warning signal to other school districts across the country—when you ask a teacher to LIE, there are consequences.

Partner With Advocates Today

Advocates is a non-profit legal organization. Our services are free of charge, so we need your help! The ongoing expenses of court filing fees, legal research, administrative costs, and other out-of-pocket expenditures must be covered, as well as our need to hire additional legal staff.

By supporting Advocates for Faith & Freedom, you will help ensure the founding principles that make the United States the most free and prosperous country in the world are protected!

We have an online donation system accessible below, or if you would like to mail in your donation, please visit our main donation page!