A Virginia school district will pay
$1.3 million in attorney's fees and costs associated with a case
involving a transgender student who was not allowed to use the
bathroom of his choice.
According to the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU), the Gloucester County School Board will be
ordered to pay the fees after six years of litigation.
Gavin Grimm filed his lawsuit in 2015
when he was a 15-year-old sophomore at Gloucester High School.
In June, the Supreme Court declined to
review lower court decisions that found the school's policy violated
Grimm's constitutional rights.
The school board informed the court on
Thursday that it would pay the entire costs requested in the case.
“We are glad that this long
litigation is finally over and that Gavin has been fully vindicated
by the courts, but it should not have taken over six years of
expensive litigation to get to this point,” said Josh Block, senior
staff attorney with the ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project. “After a year
in which state legislatures have introduced an unprecedented number
of bills targeting trans youth, we hope that the fee award will give
other school boards and lawmakers pause before they use
discrimination to score political points.”
“Rather than allow a child equal
access to a safe school environment, the Gloucester School Board
decided to fight this child for five years in a costly legal battle
that they lost,” said Gavin Grimm. “I hope that this outcome
sends a strong message to other school systems, that discrimination
is an expensive losing battle.”
The Supreme Court was set to hear
Grimm's case in 2017. But after the Trump administration withdrew its
support for Grimm, the high court instead sent the case back to the
lower courts.