TOPEKA — A federal judge tossed out most of the claims from a former University of Kansas student employee who was fired after he spoke out against changes to the campus’ LGBTQ+ residence hall.

But one claim survived, leaving room for Anthony Alvarez to argue that his supervisor retaliated against him.

Alvarez, who is transgender, spoke to news outlets following changes to the gender-inclusive dorm where he worked and lived, and he told Kansas Reflector at the time he intended not to enforce those changes. He was fired weeks later, losing his housing and residence hall job prospects, and filed a federal lawsuit in May 2025.

Alvarez’ residence hall, Grace Pearson Scholarship Hall, was designated as the university’s gender-inclusive dorm, where students could access gender-neutral bathrooms and gender-inclusive room assignments.

The university in February 2025 modified policy for the following school year, requiring the hall’s floors to be segregated by gender and students to use the bathrooms that aligned with the genders listed in their student files.

The change inspired protests among residents and other students. Alvarez, who has written for Kansas Reflector, was a three-year Grace Pearson resident and two-year proctor when he publicly criticized the university’s decision.

He told media outlets the university’s decision was political, and he expressed frustration at the loss of an inclusive space on campus. He “claims that he engaged in protected speech by speaking to a member of the media in his capacity as a private citizen on a matter of public concern — specifically, by criticizing KU policies and practices related to housing policies for LGBTQ+ community members pursuant to recent state and federal legislative directives,” court documents said.

The university placed Alvarez on probation for failing to refer media inquiries to senior staff. Before the window to appeal the probation closed, Alvarez was let go from his position, and he was forced to rescind an offer to continue as a proctor at a different residence hall in the following academic year.

Alvarez initially sued the university and his supervisors, Emily Chellgren, former assistant director of KU Housing and Residence Life and the director of Grace Pearson, and Sarah Waters, executive director of KU Housing and Residence Life. KU was dropped from the lawsuit in July.

Chellgren challenged Alvarez’ claim that speaking to the media was not part of his official duties as a proctor. The First Amendment doesn’t protect a public employee’s speech if it was through the course of official duties. 

Chellgren argued Alvarez’ comments owed their existence to his role as a proctor and related to his job, and he said he wouldn’t enforce new university policy. But just because Alvarez’ speech relates to his job, that doesn’t mean they were part of his professional responsibilities, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Vratil wrote in a March 18 order.

“Here, the first amended complaint does not allege that plaintiff’s job duties as a proctor involved speaking to the press about Grace Pearson policies, or that KU paid him to do similar tasks,” Vratil wrote. “In fact, the first amended complaint alleges that KU policy prohibits proctors from speaking to the press.”

Plus, Vratil said Alvarez wasn’t set to be a proctor at Grace Pearson when the policy changes were to go into effect, so whether he implemented the changes was irrelevant.

Vratil granted Chellgren’s request to dismiss two other counts against her, but she denied Chellgren’s motion to dismiss the count alleging she retaliated against Alvarez based on First Amendment-protected speech. Waters’ motion to dismiss was granted entirely.

Chellgren on Wednesday appealed Vratil’s decision to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals while the case proceeds.

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.

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