The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled that a school’s decision was legal for firing a guidance counselor for being in a same-sex marriage.
QUICK FACTS:
- The Federal court sided with a Catholic school after its administration fired a guidance counselor for being in a same-sex marriage.
- According to court findings, Shelly Fitzgerald, a co-Director of Guidance at Roncalli High School, “was, by all accounts, a good and effective employee and earned years of stellar performance reviews during her tenure.”
- Despite the teacher’s positive performance, however, the school fired her after learning that she was a lesbian.
- After suing Roncalli High School over the incident, the Court of Appeals ultimately ruled that the school had the right to do so under a certain exception.
- While the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that firing an employee for “merely being gay or transgender” was illegal, the new exception to the rule allows religious schools to do so with no legal consequences.
- The rule, titled the “ministerial exception,” stems from a 2012 Supreme Court ruling that churches have the ability to decide who holds positions as religious leaders.
- The school invoked the exception and Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Young voted in their favor in the suit.
U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE RICHARD YOUNG ON THE COURT SIDING WITH THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL OVER FIRING A GAY EMPLOYEE:
“The defendants contend that certain exceptions, exemptions, and protections guard their actions from statutory liability. The district court granted summary judgment on the ministerial exception. Our analysis begins and ends there,” Young wrote in the decision.
