An Indiana school district has agreed to pay nearly $200,000 to settle a complaint from a counselor who was fired for publicly opposing a gender identity student policy.

School counselor Kathy McCord sued the South Madison Community School Corporation after being fired for refusing to follow a policy that required staff to conceal from parents that their child identified as the opposite sex while at school. 

In a joint stipulation to dismiss filed Monday before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division, the two parties agreed to a settlement.

As part of the agreement, South Madison will pay $195,000 in assorted legal costs and fees, the district having already rescinded the policy following a change in the state law, WRTV reported.

McCord was represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal nonprofit that has successfully argued First Amendment cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

“No American should be fired for expressing her beliefs, especially not an educator speaking in her personal capacity, on her own time, and out of concern for her students,” said ADF Senior Counsel Vincent Wagner in a statement released Wednesday.

“Kathy knows that kids do best when schools and parents work together. But South Madison left parents in the dark. It’s regrettable that South Madison made Kathy endure three years of litigation to get to this point, but we are pleased with this result for Kathy.”

In 2021, McCord and her colleagues were required by the school district to begin using a “Gender Support Plan” paper for students regarding their preferred gender identity and pronouns.

In addition to expecting school staff to use a trans-identified student's preferred name and incorrect pronouns, they were also ordered to hide that information from parents if the student requested it.

The gender support plan, which was reportedly meant to be kept confidential, was the subject of a Daily Signal article in December 2022, in which McCord was cited as expressing opposition to the policy.

In March 2023, the school board for the South Madison Community School Corporation decided to fire McCord for her public opposition to the plan. Following her firing, ADF filed a lawsuit on her behalf in May of that year.

“South Madison fired Mrs. McCord for exercising her constitutional rights. And even before its unconstitutional retaliation, it compelled her to speak a viewpoint that violates her religion,” stated the complaint.

“For decades, Mrs. McCord loved helping students — and excelled at it. Today, she just wants to get back to school to help more kids. Therefore, she brings this Complaint for injunctive, declaratory, compensatory, and nominal relief.” 

Michael Gryboski serves as editor of The Christian Post.

This article originally appeared in The Christian Post.