The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in favor of the Blue Springs School District in a sex discrimination case involving a former transgender student.
The 5-2 decision affirmed a lower court’s decision to release the district from a 2021 jury verdict, which had obligated the district to pay the plaintiff $4.2 million in damages.
It was the latest decision in a decade-long legal battle between the school district and the family of former student RJ Appleberry, who argued the district discriminated against him based on his sex by denying him access to male locker rooms and bathrooms in middle and high school.
Appleberry’s attorneys said they’ll ask the court to reconsider the ruling.
“We are disappointed in this ruling and the profound effect it will have on the citizens of Missouri,” said attorney Katherine Myers, in a statement to The Midwest Newsroom. “Our firm is preparing a motion, which will provide the Court an opportunity to reconsider its decision.”
Steven Coronado, an attorney for Blue Springs Schools, told The Kansas City Star that the district’s legal team is “pleased with the result and believe(s) justice has been served.” A Blue Springs School District representative did not immediately respond to KCUR for further comment.
Robert Fischer, a spokesman for the LGBTQ-plus advocacy organization PROMO-Missouri, said the ruling is another blow for transgender people.
“It is something that will be harmful to a lot of students and really, really enforces the attacks that trans individuals, both young and adults, are facing,” Fischer said.
The Tuesday decision was the second time the Supreme Court considered Appleberry’s lawsuit. The case first came before the court after a Jackson County judge overturned the jury award in 2022, prompting Appleberry to appeal again.
In the recent ruling to deny his appeal, a majority of the court said Appleberry failed to show the district discriminated against him as a man. The majority opinion, written by Judge Kelly Broniec, said Appleberry instead showed discrimination based on female genitalia.
Appleberry began his transition in 2009 and legally changed his name a year later. In 2014, he amended his birth certificate to reflect that he was a male.
While he was allowed to take part in boys’ sports programs, the school district required him to dress in a separate unisex bathroom, leading to the initial lawsuit in 2015.
As KCUR previously reported, a Jackson County judge dismissed that lawsuit in 2016 after finding that the Missouri Human Rights Act— the basis for the lawsuit—did not extend its protection to claims based on gender identity.
But in 2019, the Missouri Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision reinstating the lawsuit. The court held that, while Missouri does not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, it does prohibit discrimination against people who don’t conform to gender stereotypes.
The 2019 decision paved the way for the proceedings that ultimately resulted in the multimillion dollar award.
'Attacks' against transgender people
As of June 2025, Missouri does not have a state law on transgender bathroom use, and the Blue Springs School District does not have rules listed in its public education policy.
As reported by KCUR, in 2023 the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri sued the Platte County School District and its school board for refusing to allow a transgender student to use the restroom that aligned with her gender identity.
The lawsuit stated a 16-year-old transgender student, identified as R.F., faced detention on two separate occasions at Platte County High School for using the girls’ restroom.
While Missouri does not have state laws governing how transgender people access restrooms and similar facilities, other states do.
According to a 2022 estimate by the UCLA School of Law, there are 9,500 transgender people aged 18 and older in Missouri. It estimates there are about 2,900 transgender people between the ages of 13 and 17 in the state.
The Movement Advancement Project, which describes itself as an “independent, nonprofit think tank,” gives Missouri low marks on public policy related sexual orientation and gender identity, rating the state 1.5 out of a possible score of 49.
In recent years the Missouri legislature has passed a variety of measures aimed at LGBTQ people. They include bans on gender-affirming care for youth and student sports participation among other laws.
Fischer, of PROMO-Missouri, said the Missouri Supreme Court’s decision in the Appleberry case is a blow for transgender people in Missouri.
“We've seen attacks from the state legislature. We see the attacks continue through the courts and their inability to protect those that need those protections,” Fischer said. “And so right now, within the state of Missouri, trans people are being attacked from all levels of state government, from every branch of state government.”
METHODOLOGY
To report this story, Naomi Delkamiller and Holly Edgell reviewed court records and previous coverage of the case by KCUR and other news media. Edgell asked for an interview with RJ Appleberry and received a written statement from an attorney in response. Delkamiller interviewed a representative of PROMO-Missouri. Edgell identified statistics and data related to transgender issues in Missouri.
The Midwest Newsroom is an investigative and enterprise journalism collaboration that includes Iowa Public Radio, KCUR, Nebraska Public Media, St. Louis Public Radio and NPR.
There are many ways you can contact us with story ideas and leads, and you can find that information here.
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REFERENCES:
Judge throws out a jury's $4 million verdict in favor of a Blue Springs transgender student (KCUR | June 7, 2022)
ACLU sues Missouri school district for not letting transgender student use the girls' restroom (KCUR | Aug. 1, 2023)
State judges deny discrimination claim: ‘profound effect’ on trans Missourians (Kansas City Star | June 12, 2025)
Bans on Transgender People Using Public Bathrooms and Facilities According to their Gender Identity (Movement Advancement Project)
How Many Adults And Youth Identify As Transgender In The United States? (Williams Institute, School of Law, UCLA | 2022)
TYPE OF ARTICLE
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
