Intersex teacher in Florida says school fired him based on belief he was trans

This story originally appeared on Them.Shepard Scalf, a Florida teacher who is intersex, is alleging in a new Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filing that his school district fired him because they perceived him as transgender. Scalf was assigned female at birth but identifies as male, per the Monday filing.In the filing, Scarf claims that, at the same time he was fired, he was told that his performance as a Language Arts teacher at Patriot Oaks Academy in the St. Johns County School District was “exemplary,” and that there was no “merits-based justification” for his termination. Scalf taught sixth grade and had been newly hired for the 2025-2026 school year.“At the same time, the district knew both that I have a male gender identity (they gave me a placard saying ‘Mr. Scalf’) and that I was assigned female at birth (based on my employment paperwork),” Scarf wrote. “I therefore believe this termination was based on the perception that I am transgender.”Just three weeks into the new school year, principal Drew Chiodo, allegedly called Scalf in for an “emergency meeting” held on August 29, 2025, per the filing. Scalf says he attended the meeting with a representative from the teacher’s union; at the meeting, Chiodo allegedly read a letter from the superintendent, Dr. Brennan Asplen.Per the filing, the letter from Asplen claimed that, due to Scalf being a first-year teacher, his employment was “probationary” and could be dismissed without cause. The letter said he would be placed on temporary leave following a board meeting. Scalf says he was given the choice to accept the probationary release or voluntarily resign. Scalf resigned after being told by the union rep that a resignation would be better for his future career prospects than a termination, according to the EEOC filing.“Receiving this ultimatum was confusing and overwhelming. Everything had been going so well — I couldn’t understand why this was happening,” Scalf to