A French high school teacher who refused to use male pronouns for a transgender student has been fired following a vote from the school board.

Peter Vlaming refused to use male pronouns for a student of his at West Point High School in Virginia who had taken his class the previous year when the student was a female. The student had received gender transition surgery, and the family notified the school before the school year started.

Although Vlaming used the student’s new name, he declined to use male pronouns, citing his Christian faith.

“That discrimination then leads to creating a hostile learning environment. And the student had expressed that. The parent had expressed that,” said West Point schools Superintendent Laura Abel, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “They felt disrespected.”

As a result, the West Point School Board voted 5-0 on Thursday to fire Vlaming.

“As detailed during the course of the public hearing, Mr. Vlaming was recommended for termination due to his insubordination and repeated refusal to comply with directives made to him by multiple WPPS administrators,” said Abel.

School administrators have accused Vlaming of violating the school’s nondiscrimination policies, which were updated last year to cover gender identity. However, Vlaming and his lawyer argue that Vlaming is a public employee with his own constitutional rights and that the new nondiscrimination policies do not specifically provide guidance on gender pronouns.

Vlaming said he had tried to hash out an agreement from “mutual tolerance,” but one was never reached, and so his job was put into jeopardy.

“That is not tolerance,” Vlaming said. “That is coercion.”

Vlaming hasn’t ruled out the possibility of wrongful-termination lawsuit, but said he would discuss the matter with his attorney before launching a legal appeal.

“I have to research how we would do that, what that would entail,” Vlaming said. “I do think it’s a serious question of First Amendment rights.”