After more than four years, Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 settled a lawsuit brought by transgender former student Nova Maday, who alleged discrimination.
The Daily Herald reported that the district decided to pay Maday and her legal representatives $150,000 to settle her 2017 state lawsuit claiming she was discriminated against regarding her use of the girls locker room at Palatine High School. The complaints were initially filed in 2015.
In a statement sent to Windy City Times, ACLU of Illinois Director of the LGBTQ Advocacy Project John Knight said, "Nova bravely stood up for her dignity, after being subjected to unfair treatment simply because she is a transgender young woman and wanted to take a gym class. We hope that the end of the lawsuit and the new policy recently adopted by the Board will bring a new day at District 211 for other students who are transgender."
Maday herself added, "Being forced to dress in a separate locker room was isolating and drew attention to me that I didn't want that no high school student wants. And even when I was offered use of the locker room, I was told that I would be segregated behind a changing curtain. That felt terrible.
"I just wanted to be treated like any other girl.
"My hope is that the new D211 policy truly means that no student has to face this kind of treatment in the future."