The ACLU of Virginia is suing another education institution over its treatment of people who are transgender. This time, it’s taking aim at the private, evangelical Liberty University in Lynchburg.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court of Western District of Virginia on behalf of a former employee who alleges she was fired for being transgender.
Lawyers for Ellenor Zinski, who worked at Liberty’s IT Helpdesk, said she was fired in August 2023 after disclosing she was a transgender woman. According to the complaint, Liberty's human resources department cited Zinski’s transition as the reason for her termination — a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
Liberty officials told Zinski that denying one’s birth sex is in conflict with the school’s Doctrinal Statement, Statement of Professional Ethics, & Harassment and Discrimination Avoidance Policy: “Sinful acts are prohibited by God and include but are not limited to… denial of birth sex by self-identification with a different gender.”
The lawsuit alleges Liberty staff read the termination notice aloud to Zinski, citing the doctrinal statement.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that an employer who fires an employee for being gay or transgender violates Title VIl.
Wyatt Rolla, the ACLU of Virginia’s senior transgender rights attorney, said federal law allows religious schools to give preference to hiring employees of a particular religion. However, it still bars religious schools from discriminating on the basis of other protected statuses like race, national origin or sex.
“Liberty explicitly fired Ellenor, an employee who had previously received glowing evaluations, solely for being transgender,” Rolla said. “That is against the law.”
Zinski is asking for her job back or compensatory damages, in addition to $300,000 in punitive damages, attorneys' fees and court costs.
VPM News reached out to Liberty University for comment, but did not receive a response by publication time.
The state ACLU recently sued the Virginia Department of Education on behalf of minor students in Hanover and York counties who allege they faced discrimination at school for being transgender.
A Virginia judge threw out the York County lawsuit, siding with attorneys for VDOE who argued the commonwealth is immune from lawsuits. The Hanover case is scheduled for Aug. 20 in Hanover Circuit Court.
The ACLU filed a separate, federal lawsuit against the Hanover County School Board and its former superintendent that is scheduled to be heard Tuesday, Aug. 6 at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond. That lawsuit alleges Hanover School District and its top officials violated an 11-year-old transgender student’s rights when it banned her from playing on the girls tennis team.
The complaint argues that blanket prohibitions on transgender athletes violate Title IX, the federal civil rights law barring sex discrimination in schools and education programs that receive federal funding.
