Gavin Grimm. (Photo courtesy of GLAAD)
A Virginia school district will pay more than $1.3 million in legal fees to resolve the case of Gavin Grimm, former high school student who challenged its bathroom policy.
The American Civil Liberties Union announced in a press release Aug. 26 the Gloucester County School Board in a court filing said it would not challenge Grimm’s request to pay the fees and other costs associated with his case.
Grimm was a sophomore at Gloucester County High School in 2015 when he filed a federal lawsuit against the Gloucester County School District’s policy that prohibited students from using bathrooms and locker rooms that did not correspond with their “biological gender.”
Lower courts ruled the policy violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The U.S. Supreme Court in June declined to consider the case.
“Rather than allow a child equal access to a safe school environment, the Gloucester School Board decided to fight this child for five years in a costly legal battle that they lost,” said Grimm in the ACLU press release. “I hope that this outcome sends a strong message to other school systems, that discrimination is an expensive losing battle.”
