Overview

• On August 5, a 2-1 panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment and remanded Kluge v. Brownsburg Community School Corp. for trial.
• The majority invoked the Supreme Court’s Groff v. DeJoy precedent and said jurors must determine if a last-name-only accommodation imposed an undue hardship on the school’s learning environment.
• The jury will also assess whether former music teacher John Kluge’s religious objections to pronoun use are sincerely held.
• Kluge had taught under a last-name-only accommodation for one school year before Brownsburg rescinded it and fired him in 2021 after complaints about its impact on students.
• Judge Ilana Rovner dissented, warning that allowing juries to second-guess employers’ good-faith workplace decisions risks unduly burdening businesses.