Kenosha schools settle transgender discrimination suit for $800,000

The Kenosha Unified School District has agreed to pay $800,000 to settle a federal lawsuit brought by a transgender former student who accused district officials of discriminating against him.

Under the terms of the agreement, reached this month, the district's insurance company will pay Ashton Whitaker $150,000 and his attorneys $650,000, according to a lawyer for the district.

"I am deeply relieved that this long, traumatic part of my life is finally over and I can focus on my future," Whitaker, now a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in a statement issued by his attorneys announcing the settlement.

“Winning this case … made me feel like I can actually do something to help other trans youth live authentically. My message to other trans kids is to respect themselves and accept themselves and love themselves. If someone’s telling you that you don’t deserve that, prove them wrong.”

Joseph Wardenski, one of Whitaker's attorneys, said the settlement "sends the clear message to all school districts that discriminating against transgender students is against the law and harms students who simply want to go to school."

Ron Stadler, attorney for the school district, said in a statement that its insurance company agreed to the settlement "in light of mounting legal costs and the risk of potential exposure of several million dollars if the parties continued to litigate to the end of the lawsuit, which could take a few years."

"The only taxpayer funds spent by the district in defending this matter were its $25,000 deductible," he said.

Stadler said his firm was paid about $160,000 by the district's insurance carrier to defend the case.

Whitaker, 18, was born a girl but identifies as male and began living more overtly as a boy in middle school.

He and his mother, Melissa, sued the district in 2016, alleging it banned him from the boys restrooms, monitored his restroom use, referred to him by female pronouns in front of other students, forced him to room alone on a weeklong orchestra trip and initially refused to allow him to run for prom king. The moves, they argued, violated Title IX, the federal law that bars sex discrimination in schools, and Whitaker's 14th Amendment right to equal protection under the law.

ARCHIVE: After student protest, transgender student allowed to run for prom king

RELATED: Wisconsin transgender student wins appeal to use boys' bathroom at high school

Whitaker won a key decision in May 2017 when the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that transgender students are protected from discrimination by Title IX and the Constitution. It marked the first time a federal appeals court had made such a ruling.

As a result of the settlement, Whitaker will be permitted to use the men's restroom when returning to Kenosha schools as an alumnus or community member. However, the school statement said it does not apply to anyone else.

It remains unclear how that affects any current student who identifies as transgender.

District spokeswoman Tanya Ruder said the administration will be working with board members to determine the next steps, which may include community input. In the meantime, she said, the district "will continue to work diligently with students and their families to address unique needs and accommodations."

Whitaker's attorneys, however, said Kenosha Unified and all other public schools in the three-state jurisdiction of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals are bound by the court's May decision in favor of Whitaker.

"Our position is that the Seventh Circuit decision held very clearly that the Kenosha Unified School District violated Title IX and the right to equal protection, and with this settlement, that decision stands," Wardenski said. "Our hope is that they will ... comply with the Seventh Circuit decision and deal with the needs of transgender children in the district. If they don't … they'll be subject to another lawsuit.