A San Marcos health aide says she was fired after raising concerns that the district was not following President Trump’s executive order on transgender athletes.
SAN MARCOS, Calif. — A health aide at San Marcos Unified says she was fired after she accused the district of ignoring a federal ban on transgender female athletes from competing on girls’ sports teams.
Stephanie Friedman says it took the district only four days to fire her after complaining that the district was potentially violating Executive Order 14201, also known as the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order.
The federal mandate prohibits transgender women and girls from competing in female sports and threatens schools with loss of federal funding if they allow transgender students access to facilities or athletic programs aligned with their gender identity.
Friedman, who began working for the district as a health aide substitute in April 2024, says she was a model employee without any discipline. That soon changed, however, on February 13, 2025, when Friedman emailed the school board listing concerns that San Marcos Unified’s proposal to allow transgender girls access to female sports facilities violated both the new executive order and Title IX.
In her email, Friedman warned the district that allowing transgender girls to play on girls’ sports teams “infringes on the rights of our girls who deserve protection.”
Friedman, speaking as “Stephanie F,” also addressed San Marcos Unified’s School Board during the February 13 meeting.
“As an orthopedic surgeon who is very familiar with sports injuries, I believe that it is completely unfair and unethical for men to attempt to participate in women’s sports,” Friedman told the board. “There are many reasons, including mental, social, and physical…Regardless of any surgical procedures or hormonal transitions that they have undertaken, the reality is that men continue to be bigger, stronger, faster and have quicker reaction times. There is no debate; this is scientifically proven.”
The board, however, voted to continue allowing trans students to compete on girls’ teams, ignoring the executive order.
Days later, San Marcos Unified’s human resources director called Friedman in for a meeting, threatening her with termination if she did not show.
Friedman showed and continued to argue her point. Shortly after, she received a termination letter stating she was no longer meeting standards for the health aide substitute pool.
Friedman and her attorney, however, are convinced that she was fired because of her position on transgender athletes, not because of her job performance.
“We feel very strongly in this case that the termination was caused by my client’s complaint that San Marcos was violating a federal law,” Friedman’s attorney, Josh Gruenberg, said in a statement to CBS 8.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, emotional distress, punitive damages, and penalties under state employment law, asserting that Friedman endured financial and reputational harm as a result of her dismissal.
San Marcos Unified did not respond to a request for comment.