Following a contentious year-long legal battle, the Peoria Unified School District has settled out of court with a transgender teacher who claimed two board members launched a smear campaign against them based on their gender identity.
The settlement comes almost seven months after the judge overseeing the case said the Desert Harbor Elementary school teacher who brought the case, River Chunnui, had legal grounds to sue the district and two Peoria Unified School District governing board members who attempted to get them fired for being transgender and supporting LGBTQ+ youth at their school.
“I was a special education teacher in this district — until I was targeted, harassed, and silenced for being openly transgender and for supporting our students' right to feel seen,” Chunnui said. “I was publicly attacked by board members of this district, and while that rhetoric caused deep harm, what cut just as deeply was the district’s silence. Not once did district leadership speak up to correct the record, to offer support or to affirm that teachers like me belong in the classroom.”
Last spring, Chunnui sued the district for gender discrimination as well as two of its members. Chunnui alleged they played key roles in mounting a public campaign against Chunnui, who is transgender and nonbinary.
Chunnui's lawsuit argued that the district failed to stop attacks against them online and during board meetings, which
LOOKOUT reported in 2023 resulted in violent threats from members of the public, as well as an attempt by the board to not renew their employment contract.
“That silence wasn’t neutral. It was permission,” Chunnui said Wednesday night, directly addressing governing board president Heather Rooks and superintendent Kenneth Somers, who stepped into the role one year ago.
Chunnui’s complaint also mentioned how Rooks and former governing board member Rebecca Hill called them a slur that far-right extremists often use against transgender and gender-diverse adults, accusing them of being a pedophile. During that time, Chunnui’s home address was posted online, a rock was thrown at their home and their tires were slashed on school grounds.
The school district, along with Rooks and Hill, denied the allegations in Chunnui’s lawsuit and in June last year attempted to get the case dismissed, arguing that Chunnui had not experienced any adverse employment actions at the hands of the two board members. They also argued that Rooks and Hill are protected by “qualified immunity,” the legal standard that shields public officials from some legal actions.
U.S. District Judge Michael T. Liburdi, who was a lawyer and advisor to former Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, denied the motions. “The Court is not persuaded,” read the judge’s November order. It continued that “Rooks and Hill ignore Plaintiff’s well-pled allegations that they embarked on a smear campaign and repeatedly disparaged Plaintiff before, during, and after” a board meeting that attempted to remove Chunnui from their job at the school district.
Supporters of River Chunnui, a transgender and nonbinary educator in Peoria, rallied for the teacher in 2023 after their car was vandalized in the parking lot of Desert Harbor Elementary School.
Barton Mendez Soto
Moving forward
Rooks is well known for pushing false theories about trans and gender-diverse people. She has also routinely cited Bible verses while speaking at board meetings since taking office in 2023.That year, Rooks filed a case against the district for allegedly censoring her practice of quoting the Bible during the general public comment period at meetings.
In January, a U.S. District Court judge appointed by President Donald Trump ruled that Rooks lacked standing to bring the claim and dismissed it. The district spent roughly $218,000 in legal defense fees for that case, according to KJZZ.
Chunnui’s separate suit was settled in early June.
Danielle Airey, a spokesperson for the district, told LOOKOUT and Phoenix New Times that with the case resolved, the school district could continue “to focus on what matters most: learning and teaching.” The details of the settlement are unclear and have not yet been made public.
An order from the judge in Chunnui’s case stated that both parties would cover their own legal fees.
In response to the settlement, Chunnui — who resigned from the district following the end of their legal battle — announced the launch of a new advocacy group to help LGBTQ+ families and families of color navigate education systems in the West Valley called Family Prism Project.
Chunnui said a portion of the money from the settlement will go toward the Family Prism Project. The project aims to “build affirming, inclusive communities across Peoria, Deer Valley, and Dysart school districts because families like mine deserve joy, safety, and representation,” Chunnui said.
“So in closing, I want to say this: I didn’t choose this fight. But I will choose what I do with it,” said Chunnui, sporting a T-shirt brandished with the Family Prism Project logo. “And I want to sincerely thank Ms. Rooks — for helping push me from quiet teacher to proud advocate. Without your public comments, I may never have been radicalized into this work.”
Neither Rooks nor Somers responded to Chunnui’s statement.
