A Cobb County teacher who was fired for reading a book that challenges gender norms to fifth graders is suing the district for discrimination.
Katie Rinderle is believed to be the first public school teacher in Georgia to face consequences under state laws passed in 2022 that limit what teachers are allowed to discuss in the classroom. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta is the first federal challenge to the Georgia policies, her attorneys say in a news release from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Rinderle is one of three plaintiffs in the suit, along with current Cobb County teacher Tonya Grimmke and the Georgia Association of Educators, which represents about 1,600 teachers in Cobb. Grimmke, who has taught in Cobb for 18 years, said she has strived to make her classrooms and school communities safe and welcoming for LGBTQ and gender nonconforming students. The school district’s actions, Grimmke said in the complaint, have made her fear retaliatory disciplinary action. Grimmke currently teaches at Birney Elementary School.
The 35-page complaint alleges that the plaintiffs “have been terminated or fear discipline under (Cobb’s) vague censorship policies for actively and openly supporting their LGBTQ students.” It goes on to state that Rinderle’s firing sent a message to Cobb educators that “allowing students access to information that violates sex stereotypes by mentioning or acknowledging LGBTQ and gender nonconforming people is prohibited.” The suit alleges that Rinderle’s termination is illegal retaliation in violation of Title IX — the civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in schools.
The lawsuit demands Cobb reinstate Rinderle to her former teaching position, remove any record of discipline and misconduct and unspecified monetary damages.
“While we have no comment on ongoing litigation, we are proud to be a district to be focused on the Georgia Standards and what children need to know and do,” a spokesperson for the Cobb school district said in a statement Wednesday to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The district is a defendant in the case, as well as Superintendent Chris Ragsdale, Executive Director of Employee Relations and Evaluations Chris Dowd and each member of the board of education. Cobb officials said in a previous statement about Rinderle’s firing they are “confident the actions of the Board were appropriate considering the entirety of the teacher’s behavior and history. The district remains committed to strictly enforcing all Board policy, and the law.”
Rinderle was removed from her classroom almost a year ago after reading fifth graders a book called “My Shadow is Purple” by Scott Stuart. Some parents complained to the school’s principal that they were not informed about the content of the book ahead of time. Rinderle maintained throughout a two-day hearing and afterward that the book was about inclusivity. She was fired in August.
“The school board’s decision to fire me undermines students’ freedom to learn and teachers’ ability to teach,” Rinderle said this week in a statement through the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Rinderle has also filed an appeal asking the state board of education to reverse her firing. The state board has yet to vote on the issue, but an SPLC spokesperson said they expect a decision by the board’s Feb. 22 meeting.
In the months since Rinderle was fired, the Cobb County School District has removed books it has deemed to be sexually explicit from its libraries, spurring debate about what power the district has to make those decisions. Marietta City Schools took similar steps. This year’s legislative session brought with it a series of bills that aim to restrict content available in school libraries, including one that would expose librarians to criminal prosecution.
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