A high school snowboarding coach who was fired for telling students that men and women are biologically different won’t get his job back, but he will walk away $75,000 richer.
David Bloch, who founded the Woodstock Union High School snowboarding team in 2011, reached a settlement with the Vermont Agency of Education, the Vermont Principals’ Association, and his former school district that pays him $75,000, or nearly 17 times his previous annual salary.
Mr. Bloch sued last July after he was fired over his comments about transgender athletes during downtime at a February 2023 meet in which his girls’ team competed against a male-born snowboarder who identified as female.
He told two student athletes that males and females have different DNA and that as a result, males generally have an advantage in sports. As the break ended, he also said, “Let’s go out and beat this biological boy,” according to court documents.
U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss denied Mr. Bloch’s request for reinstatement. The coach filed a notice of appeal in January with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which will be dropped as part of the settlement agreement.
Alliance Defending Freedom legal counsel Matthew Hoffmann, who represents Mr. Bloch, said the coach led the team for 11 years “to enormous success in terms of both athletic accomplishment and personal growth of the snowboarders.”
“But the school district fired him because he simply expressed his views that males and females are biologically different and questioned the appropriateness of a teenage male competing against teenage females in an athletic competition,” Mr. Hoffmann said. “We’re pleased to favorably settle this case.”
Mr. Bloch, a Catholic, also challenged the Harassment, Hazing, and Bullying policy adopted by the state and school district, arguing that it violated his First Amendment rights.
Sherry Sousa, superintendent of the Windsor Central Supervisory Union district, told the court that Mr. Bloch was fired “because he denigrated a student,” and that with or without the policy, “the outcome would have been the same,” according to the district court’s ruling.
“She agrees she could have issued a warning, a reprimand, mandated training, or issued a suspension or any combination of these measures but instead chose termination,” said Judge Reiss in the December decision. “She has a transgender child, who was previously on the snowboarding team, and felt the issue was an important one.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.