Sign for a girl’s restroom in a Fairfax County school (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)
Fairfax County Public Schools has decided to resolve a former student’s lawsuit challenging its policies supporting transgender students before it can reach trial.
The now-graduated student, identified as Jane Doe and represented by the right-wing organization America First Legal, recently accepted the Fairfax County School Board’s offer of a judgment that includes $50 and compensation for legal fees, according to court documents.
Finalized by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Monday (Dec. 1), the offer was intended to save both sides from committing “large resources” to potentially lengthy and costly legal proceedings, Hunton Andrews Kurth attorney Sona Rewari, representing the school board, said in a Nov. 14 letter to Jane Doe’s lawyers.
The school board’s lawyers contended that the $50 judgment “far exceeds” what the student could expect to win if the lawsuit went to trial.
FCPS affirmed in a statement to FFXnow that its goal in offering to settle the lawsuit was to avoid the cost of a prolonged legal battle and maintained that its policies protecting students from gender-based discrimination are in compliance with state and federal laws:
FCPS Title IX policies continue to align with state and federal law. We have agreed to pay $50 and costs, including reasonable legal fees to settle a federal lawsuit claiming violations of free speech and religion. The settlement is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing by FCPS. We resolved this dispute for a nominal amount to safeguard public resources and save taxpayers thousands of dollars in legal fees and costs. FCPS remains committed to providing a safe, supportive, and inclusive school environment for all students and staff members, including our transgender and gender-expansive community. Any student who has a need or desire for increased privacy, regardless of the underlying reason, shall continue to be provided with reasonable accommodations.
Despite FCPS asserting its offer wasn’t an admission of fault, America First Legal trumpeted the judgment on Tuesday (Dec. 2) as “a major victory” in its battle to defend students from “radical gender policies.”
The organization, which was co-founded by current White House Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, alleged in its lawsuit that FCPS had discriminated against Doe based on her sex and religion by letting students use restrooms, names and pronouns matching their gender identity.
Initially filed in Fairfax County Circuit Court in March 2024, the complaint stated that, while attending West Springfield High School, Doe felt “unsafe and uncomfortable” sharing bathrooms with a gender-expansive student. She questioned the school’s offer of alternative accommodations, as dictated by its regulation 2603, when they could use both the male and female restrooms.
She also claimed that addressing other students by their chosen names and pronouns would violate her free speech rights and religious beliefs, which hold that “God creates each person as male or female … and that rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of
the image of God within that person.”
Though a circuit court judge denied FCPS’ request to dismiss the lawsuit last December, America First Legal re-filed the case in federal court on Oct. 3, adding claims that the school policies violate Doe’s Constitutional rights to equal protection and due process as well as Title IX prohibitions on sex-based discrimination.
In a press release, America First Legal President Gene Hamilton characterized the judgment as “justice” for Doe, who’s now attending college in Nebraska.
“This judgment is a crucial reminder that no one is above the law,” Hamilton said. “Fairfax County attempted repeatedly to block this case, and they failed. America First Legal will not stop defending students whose safety and dignity are threatened.”
The organization noted that its lawsuit was part of a broader national trend of legal and legislative challenges to transgender rights, including a separate case against Loudoun County Public Schools on behalf of two students suspended for allegedly harassing a trans student.
FCPS and Arlington Public Schools also remain mired in a court battle with the U.S. Department of Education over restrictions imposed on their access to federal funding after they refused to roll back their policies supporting transgender students.
Outgoing Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares filed a brief on Nov. 26 backing the Education Department’s decision, while the NAACP Legal Defense Fund submitted a brief on Monday supporting the school districts’ challenge. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals judges are scheduled to hear oral arguments in the lawsuit on Jan. 29, 2026, court documents show.
