Georgia will pay $250,000 to fired university director who advocated for free chest binders

This story originally appeared on Them.

The state of Georgia has settled a lawsuit from a former Georgia Southern University employee who said she was fired for objecting when the school didn’t want to provide free chest binders to students, CBS News Atlanta reported on Thursday.

Gemma Skuraton, who was formerly Georgia Southern University’s director of student wellness and health promotion, will receive a settlement of $250,000. She had sued the university as well as its vice president Shay Little, accusing them of infringing on both her First Amendment and Title IX rights.

Georgia Southern rejected a proposal to provide free chest binders to students, which Skuraton objected to, per CBS News Atlanta. Later, Skuraton claimed that Little had accused her of spurring student protests and media attention on the situation. Skuraton was then fired in July 2025.

Under the terms of the settlement, the Georgia Department of Administrative Services will pay $144,365.36 to Skuraton and $105,634.36 to her attorneys for legal fees, equaling about $250,000. Skuraton must dismiss the lawsuit within five days of getting the money.

As part of the terms of the settlement, Skuraton’s termination must be changed to a voluntary resignation and her termination letter must be removed from her file. She will also receive a “neutral reference letter” for future employment.

"Gemma Skuraton lost a job, but she kept her moral compass," Artur Davis, Skuraton’s attorney, said in a statement to CBS News Atlanta.

In the year prior to Skuraton’s termination, GSU received criticism for essentially trying to erase LGBTQ+ student visibility from campus, per a report in the student newspaper The George-Anne.

An open letter from regional nonprofit Boro Pride, excerpted in The George-Anne, accused the university of removing a variety of services, including “therapy groups for LGBTQIA+ students, trainings to educate faculty/staff about LGBTQIA+ identities (i.e., Safe Space/Zone), medical treatments for transgender students, career resources, LGBTQIA+ symbolism, and diversity statements from the university website” from public view. Per the letter, the university also removed pride flags from the university bookstore and made “adjustments” to programming targeting LGBTQIA+ students, including the Lavender Graduation.

First City Pride Center, based in Savannah, Georgia, also released a statement about the University’s rejection of LGBTQ+ visibility on campus.

“First City Pride Center is appalled and deeply concerned over Georgia Southern University’s decision to remove all programs, resources, and signage used to affirm and support LGBTQIA+ students and staff,” the Center wrote on Instagram in April 2024.

The statement alleged that between April 10 12, 2024, the university removed the vast majority of signage, resources and programs “used to affirm and support LGBTQIA+ individuals.”

Them has reached out to Georgia Southern University via email and telephone and will update as the story develops.

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