There is an important ruling this month out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which ruled against former high school music teacher John Kluge for refusing to comply with the school’s pronoun policy for religious reasons. What is most curious about the ruling is the timing. The Seventh Circuit opinion from April 7th is particularly interesting given the oral argument in the Supreme Court in Groff v. DeJoy only 11 days after the appellate ruling. Groff could gut the underlying standard used by the Seventh Circuit in its ruling for the school district. The opinion also puts the appellate court in conflict with the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in its recent Meriweather decision. …

It is interesting that the Seventh Circuit did not wait for the Groff decision, but it is not required to do so. There is also now a split in the circuits on the pronoun question with the unanimous opinion in the Meriwether case. (The Seventh Circuit does not discuss the opposing case).

Even if the Supreme Court does not negate the basis for the Seventh Circuit decision by changing the underlying test, the split in the circuits would militate in favor of a review of the pronoun controversy by the Court.

[I suspect this may have been an attempt to force the Supreme Court to address this issue. They’re not going to be able to avoid it now. With a split between circuits, the court can’t just decline cert and let opposing precedents operate in different circuits. — Ed]