Settlement reached in $1.75M lawsuit between retired teacher, WRDSB
Posted Jan 20, 2026 07:11:02 AM.
Last Updated Jan 20, 2026 10:25:39 AM.
After years of legal proceedings across two different levels of court, a $1.75 million lawsuit between the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) and a now-retired teacher has been settled.
The exact details of the settlement are not known, but it was reached in mediation four years after the situation first came to light.
It all stems from January 2022, when Carolyn Burjoski made a presentation during a school board meeting where she voiced her concerns about certain books being offered in elementary school libraries, which dealt with themes of gender identity and sexuality.
“I raised concerns about a library book that downplays serious medical interventions on children who identify as transgender,” said Burjoski in a recent video. “I was kicked out of the meeting, removed from my classroom, threatened with disciplinary action, and accused of transphobia.”
During the meeting, former board chair Scott Piatkowski stopped Burjoski’s presentation, saying that her wording during the meeting violated the Ontario Human Rights Code for using transphobic language.
During the meeting, he said, “I’m just getting a little concerned that your content may be problematic. I’m not sure exactly where you’re headed, but I would caution you to make sure that you’re not saying anything that would violate the human rights code.”
The board voted on whether to allow Burjoski to continue with her presentation; she was not permitted to proceed by a margin of one vote.
The main book being discussed by Burjoski during the meeting was The Other Boy by MG Hennessey, which tells the story of the medical transition of a person “born female and now identifies as a boy.”
According to Burjoski’s presentation, the school board has 106 copies of the book in circulation across K-6 elementary school libraries through WRDSB.
“I believe we may be living through one of the most serious medical scandals in modern history, and our public schools are complicit,” said Burjoski.
Video from that meeting was later removed by WRDSB, which said it was, “Concerned about potential violations to the Code and to the harm that could affect our students, staff and communities in Waterloo Region.”
After news of the situation began circulating across the region, Burjoski said she had begun being called transphobic and discriminatory, leading her to raise a discrimination lawsuit against the WRDSB in May, later that year.
Once the case began, the school board attempted to have the case thrown out twice, but was unsuccessful on both occasions, including an attempt to use an anti-SLAPP motion to get the case dismissed.
The board later appealed the court’s decision through the Ontario Court of Appeal, which was also later dismissed.
“Together, we have achieved two court victories at the Divisional Court and the Ontario Court of Appeal. Our anti-SLAPP victory now stands as a legal precedent.”
In a separate case through the divisional courts, Burjoski also fought to be able to finish her presentation to the board, but lost the judicial review, where a later appeal held the same decision.
Now, four years later, in a statement to 570 NewsRadio, WRDSB said, “We acknowledge that the matter has been settled via mediation,” but added that, “As a party to the agreement, we cannot offer further comments on the matter.”
