Medford, OR. — Grants Pass School District 7 has agreed to pay $650,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees and formally acknowledge wrongdoing after firing two educators who spoke publicly about gender-identity education policy. The settlement ends a years-long legal battle brought by Rachel Sager (formerly Damiano) and Katie Medart, who were represented by attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom and the Pacific Justice Institute.
Under the agreement, the district will:
- Pay $650,000
- Issue a public statement acknowledging the educators’ wrongful termination
- Provide positive letters of recommendation
- Remove negative references from their personnel files
- Revise its policies to comply with First Amendment requirements
Sager and Medart were punished in 2021 after they voiced concerns—on their own time—about local, state, and national approaches to gender-identity instruction. District officials suspended and then terminated both employees, prompting the lawsuit. In June 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in the educators’ favor, partially vacating the lower court’s decision and sending the case back for trial—strengthening their First Amendment claims.
“Educators are free to express opinions on fundamental issues of public concern—like gender identity education policy—that implicate the freedoms of teachers, parents, and students,” said ADF Legal Counsel Mathew Hoffmann, noting that the district’s agreement recognizes teachers do not “give up their First Amendment rights” at work.
Both educators had served for years, including at North Middle School in Grants Pass, Sager as assistant principal and Medart as a science teacher. Together, they founded “I Resolve,” a grassroots effort to propose gender-identity policies that they argued would respect the rights of students, parents, and staff.
The settlement closes a prominent Oregon free-speech case and requires policy changes intended to prevent similar violations in the future.
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