8 April 4th-April 10th, 2024 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Pride and Prejudice Peoria teacher says school district targeted them for being transgender. BY TJ L’HEUREUX A Peoria schoolteacher’s email to fellow staff about supporting transgender students led to a campaign of harassment and discrimi- nation against the teacher, according to a new lawsuit. River Chunnui is a trans and nonbinary special education teacher at Desert Harbor Elementary School. They have worked in the Peoria Unified School District since 2018, according to their lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court on March 8. Chunnui is suing the district as well as two members of its governing board who the lawsuit alleged played key roles in mounting a public campaign against Chunnui. Heather Rooks is still on the district’s board, while Rebecca Hill left office in August 2023 after telling parents to unen- roll their students from the district because of its bathroom policies. “God is not blessing this district,” Hill reportedly said. According to Chunnui’s lawsuit, Hill and Rooks began a public campaign against Chunnui, referred to them as a child “groomer” and accused them of “sexualizing children.” Rooks even disclosed Chunnui’s home address, and afterward, someone tossed a rock at the teacher’s window. The district did nothing to stop the attacks, which included violent threats against Chunnui, the lawsuit alleged. Chunnui accused the district of violating a host of federal laws, including the Civil Rights Act of 1967, for disparate treatment because of sex and creating a hostile work environment, and the First Amendment, for discriminating against certain viewpoints. In addition, Chunnui is bringing four charges against the district, Hill and Rooks. The teacher alleged that the district and two board members engaged in unlawful retaliation under the First Amendment, violation of free speech protected by the Arizona Constitution, false light invasion of privacy and inten- tional infliction of emotional distress. The school district declined to comment. Rooks did not respond to New Times’ request for a comment, and Hill could not be reached. ‘I was very scared and very confused’ Chunnui sent the email to fellow Desert Harbor employees on March 31, 2022, which is International Transgender Day of Visibility. They encouraged other staff to support students who were wearing the colors of the trans flag. “Hello Fabulous Staff, I just wanted to let you know that you may see our students wearing more pink, teal and white today,” Chunnui wrote. “Today is a quickly growing annual event called ‘International Transgender Day of Visibility.’” The email continued, “How can you help? If you notice a student purposefully wearing the colors of the trans flag, a simple ‘I see you’ or ‘I support you’ can go a long way.” Soon afterward, the email was leaked to media and the public and published in a story by right-wing website Arizona Daily Independent on April 7, according to the lawsuit. Desert Harbor responded in a state- ment and an email to all parents, noting Chunnui’s email was only sent to staff and not students, according to the lawsuit. On April 8, the district’s human resources officer, Laura Vesely, ordered Chunnui not to return to work until Vesely told them to do so, the lawsuit claimed. Three days later, Vesely informed Chunnui they were being placed on paid administra- tive leave because the district was conducting an investigation. Chunnui claimed the district failed to tell them what they were accused of and what the basis of the investigation was other than “two instances of unprofes- sional conduct,” which are not specified in the lawsuit. “I didn’t understand what policies I had allegedly broken,” Chunnui told New Times in an interview. “I was mostly concerned with keeping my job at that time. I was kind of in a fear-based state. I was very scared and very confused.” At the same time, Hill — then a board member — and Rooks — who was campaigning for the position — began to attack Chunnui publicly, the lawsuit alleged. On April 7, Rooks tweeted a picture of Chunnui’s staff email and added, “Stop sexualizing OUR children!” On the same day, Rooks allegedly held a “prayer vigil” to pray against Chunnui and urged attendees to come to the next board meeting on April 14 to publicly disparage the teacher, the lawsuit claimed. On the day of the board meeting, the lawsuit said, the general counsel for the Arizona Education Association, Jarrett Haskovec, informed the Peoria school district’s attorney that Chunnui had endured violent threats and harassment after the district started its investigation. The lawsuit claimed that earlier in the day, before the board meeting, Rooks and Hill publicly derided Chunnui. Rooks even disclosed Chunnui’s home address, and shortly afterward, at 1:50 p.m., a rock was thrown at Chunnui’s residence, causing damage to a window. At the meeting, several people made disparaging remarks about Chunnui. Rooks continued to use social media as a means to conduct a public campaign against Chunnui and Peoria Unified, saying on April 29 that the district “allows teachers now to have young children call them by their preferred pronouns,” the lawsuit alleged. Chunnui was told they were no longer under investigation on June 21, 2022, after Chunnui had missed the end of the school term, which they called their “favorite part of the year” in the interview with New Times. “For me, my work is my joy,” Chunnui said. The leave of absence “definitely put me in a state of depres- sion,” they added. The lawsuit stated that “the District never issued written River Chunnui, a special education teacher in Peoria, sued the school district and two school board members in federal court over allegations of harassment and violence. (Photo courtesy of Beverly Sasser) Rebecca Hill (left) and Heather Rooks, along with the Peoria Unified School District, are being sued by a teacher who alleged she was targeted for being transgender and nonbinary. (Photos courtesy of Arizona’s Family and Peoria Unified School District) | NEWS | | NEWS | >> p 11
