A transgender
professor who was fired by a Christian school in Michigan
has reached a settlement in her sex-discrimination
complaint. Julie Nemecek and Spring Arbor University
agreed to the settlement Monday after mediation talks
with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Terms of the deal
were not released, but Nemecek said Tuesday that she
will no longer be employed by the school outside Jackson,
about 75 miles west of Detroit. "I'm looking for other
employment," said Nemecek, who recently changed her
name from John. "I may do some consulting work. I'm
definitely going to do advocacy for transgender
issues."
Spring Arbor said
the discrimination charge has been withdrawn.
The evangelical
university, affiliated with the Free Methodist Church,
fired the 55-year-old associate professor last month after a
15-month dispute. It previously had decided not to
renew Nemecek's contract after the spring semester,
citing conduct "inconsistent with the Christian
faith."
Nemecek is an
ordained Baptist minister who began living as a woman in
2004. Nemecek is legally male and is getting hormone therapy
but doesn't plan to have sex-reassignment surgery,
partly to continue a marriage of 35 years.
Nemecek's case
became known around the same time as that of Steve
Stanton, who is disputing his dismissal as city manager of
Largo, Fla., after announcing he would undergo
sex-reassignment surgery. (David Eggert, AP)
