David Bloch has won his case against Woodstock Union High School, which fired him in February 2023 for stating in a conversation with two of his athletes the biological fact that males and females are different and that those differences give males an advantage in sports.
The next day, Coach Bloch was called to the superintendent's office and given a notice of "immediate termination." His offense was referencing a student in an illegitimate and inappropriate manner, and he was accused of violating the policy on harassment, hazing, and bullying, which every district in the state is required to implement.
"We filed a lawsuit on his behalf, because public schools can't fire employees for their respectful speech on a matter of public concern," reports Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) legal counsel Mathew Hoffmann.
A settlement has now been reached, and state and school officials have agreed to pay Bloch $75,000. Also, both the Agency of Education and the school district have admitted that the coach's conversation did not violate any policy.
Hoffmann says Bloch's spirits were definitely down after he was unjustly terminated, "but since the final lawsuit, he's had overwhelming public support in town -- certainly not support from the school, but people have kind of come out of the woodwork and been very open that they support his efforts and his right to freedom of speech."
The ADF attorney thinks "we can all agree" that people should just be able and have the right to express their opinion, especially on hotly debated topics of public concern.
