Arizona School District Settles in Trans Teacher Lawsuit
Special education teacher River Chunnui sued after being accused of "sexualizing children" and doxxed by school board members over their gender identity.
An Arizona school district has settled a discrimination lawsuit brought by a transgender, nonbinary teacher who alleged that two school board members led a smear campaign against them based on their gender identity.
The teacher, River Chunnui, alleged they were targeted and harassed because of their gender identity. Chunnui, who had worked as a special education teacher in the Peoria Unified School District since 2018, said the retaliation began after they sent an email to colleagues at Desert Harbor Elementary School on March 31, 2022.
In the email, Chunnui informed colleagues that March 31 is recognized as International Transgender Day of Visibility and noted they might see students wearing pink, teal, and white — the colors of the transgender flag.
“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,” Chunnui wrote. The email was later leaked to the right-wing website Arizona Daily Independent and other media outlets, where it was cited as “evidence” of a teacher promoting a pro-transgender agenda.
The article also criticized the school district for failing to provide advance notice to parents that students might participate in a pro-LGBTQ event.
Soon afterward, according to Chunnui’s lawsuit, the district placed them on administrative leave, citing an investigation into two instances of alleged “unprofessional conduct” — sending the email about International Transgender Day of Visibility and reading the children’s book Pink Is for Boys (which asserts that colors are not tied to specific genders) to students.
Chunnui was eventually allowed to return to work, but claimed that shortly afterward, school board member Heather Rooks and former board member Rebecca Hill began a public campaign against them on social media and at board meetings.
According to Chunnui’s lawsuit, Rooks and Hill referred to them as a child “groomer” and accused them of “sexualizing” children. Rooks also allegedly shared Chunnui’s home address, after which unknown individuals threw rocks through their windows on at least two occasions and slashed their car tires in another instance.
Rooks and Hill also attempted, but failed, to block Chunnui’s contract from being renewed.
Chunnui said district officials failed to reprimand the board members despite multiple complaints, creating a hostile work environment and violating their civil rights by retaliating against them for protected speech — a form of viewpoint discrimination.
They also sued for “false light invasion of privacy,” which involves portraying someone in a false and highly offensive way, and for “intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
The school district denied Chunnui’s allegations and sought to have the case dismissed, arguing that Chunnui was not discriminated against and that Rooks and Hill were protected by “qualified immunity,” which shields public officials from legal liability. A federal judge rejected those arguments last November, ruling that Chunnui had standing to pursue the lawsuit.
The district settled the lawsuit last month.
Details of the settlement remain unclear and have not been made public. However, a judge’s order stated that both parties would cover their own legal fees.
Danielle Airey, a spokesperson for the district, told the Phoenix New Times that with the case resolved, the district could “focus on what matters most: learning and teaching.”
Chunnui, who resigned from the district after the 2024-2025 school year, has launched a new advocacy group, the Family Prism Project, to support LGBTQ+ families and families of color in Phoenix’s suburbs, helping them navigate school systems and policies that may be unwelcoming or hostile.
During public comment at a Peoria Unified board meeting on July 9, Chunnui criticized the district’s actions.
“I didn’t choose this fight. But I will choose what I do with it,” Chunnui said. “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.”
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