A federal judge has ruled that an Illinois school district is not liable for the actions of a teacher who allegedly shared the gospel with students, leading a Muslim student to convert to Christianity.
Religion Information Service (RNS) reports that in his dismissal of the case, Judge Iain D. Johnston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, ruled that officials with the Community Unit of School District 300 n Were not responsible for the teacher’s actions because he was disciplined and then resigned after being confronted by these public school officials.
Yosuf Chaudhry and Amena Alvi, who follow Islam, sued the school district nearly four years ago after discovering their daughter had converted to Christianity while a student at Jacobs High School in Algonquin, Wash. ‘Illinois, according to the media.
The couple’s daughter, identified as “BD” in the complaint, had met Pierre Thorsen, a teacher who taught world history and world religions at the school and who also sponsored a Christian group called Uprising.
Thorsen was a popular high school teacher. In 2015, he was named Educator of the Year for Kane County, Illinois. More than 4,000 people have signed a Change.org petition support the teacher before he resigned from the high school in 2019.
He was also named in the complaint against the district. According to the complaint, Thorsen, who taught apologetics classes at local churches, allegedly promoted Christianity at uprising meetings and criticized other religions.
“Thorsen repeatedly engaged in conversations with students before, during and after school where he defended his faith and questioned, belittled or discounted other faiths,” the complaint alleges.
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The parents also claimed that Thorsen introduced their daughter to members of her church who offered to let her live with them if her family disowned her after she became a Christian. She also received a Bible from the teacher, according to a 2023 revised version of their complaint.
Additionally, the couple alleged that the school district should have known about Thorsen’s proselytizing of students, according to the RNS.
In response to the lawsuit, Thorsen said he lectured in churches but denied trying to convert his students. He also denied criticizing other religions, but said he gave their daughter a Bible after she asked for one. He also said he connected the couple’s daughter with people outside the school who could help her if her parents were upset about her conversion, the outlet reported.
“The objective was reconciliation and not legal emancipation,” refuted the parents’ complaint.
Thorsen defended discussions about religion in a public school and said he did not try to persuade BD to convert, but instead suggested he talk to other Muslims about his questions about faith, according to THE RNS.
After the parents told their story According to the Daily Herald, a suburban Chicago newspaper, which published an article about it, Thorsen sued them for defamation.
In court, school administrators argued that they confronted Thorsen about his actions after the girl’s parents complained. He was disciplined and resigned shortly after, according to the RNS.
Judge Johnston said the couple repeatedly failed to demonstrate that the district was responsible. He said no other teachers appeared to have promoted religion, making it unlikely the district would condone such conduct.
“The fact remains that when parents informed the district of their concerns about Thorsen, he was investigated, disciplined and transferred to another school – a sequence that hardly allows a reasonable inference “that the district had already known of and ratified Thorsen’s conduct,” Johnston wrote in his order, dismissing the lawsuit against the district.
However, the couple’s lawsuit against Thorsen continues.
Their lawyer, Zubair Khan, said they would appeal the judge’s decision until the case against Thorsen was decided.
Thorsen also sued the school district, according to RNS. He claims school officials discriminated against his Christian faith, saying they misled him into believing he would be fired if he did not resign.
In his lawsuit against the district, Thorsen claims that any discussion of religion took place in a “legitimate educational manner” and that he was pressured to resign because talking about Christianity made people feel uncomfortable. easy.
The judge previously denied some of Thorsen’s requests, but his lawyers filed an amended complaint in December.
