Supreme Court of Virginia’s Vlaming Decision is a Legal Earthquake with Major Implications for Virginia Businesses, Organizations, and Government Entities
I. Introduction and Executive Summary On December 14, 2023, a legal earthquake hit Virginia when the Supreme Court of Virginia issued its decision in Vlaming v. West Point School Board, 895 S.E.2d 705 (Va. 2023). But, to the extent there is a “legal” Richter scale, that earthquake has yet to register. Headlines covering the decision noted the result dealing with a hot-button social issue: a teacher fired for refusing to use a student’s preferred pronouns on religious grounds could continue to pursue his case against the school board for alleged violations of constitutionally protected religious rights. But that context has […]