North Carolina Catholic school had right to fire gay teacher who announced wedding online, court rules
Source: CBS News/AP
Updated on: May 10, 2024 / 6:59 AM EDT
A Catholic school in North Carolina had the right to fire a gay teacher who announced his marriage on social media a decade ago, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, reversing a judge's earlier decision.
A panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, reversed a 2021 ruling that Charlotte Catholic High School and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte had violated Lonnie Billard's federal employment protections against sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The school said Billard wasn't invited back as a substitute teacher because of his "advocacy in favor of a position that is opposed to what the church teaches about marriage," a court document said.
U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn determined Billard - a full-time teacher for a decade until 2012 - was a lay employee for the limited purpose of teaching secular classes. Cogburn said a trial would still have to be held to determine appropriate relief for him. A 2020 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court declared Title VII also protected workers who were fired for being gay or transgender.
But Circuit Judge Pamela Harris, writing Wednesday's prevailing opinion, said that Billard fell under a "ministerial exception" to Title VII that courts have derived from the First Amendment that protects religious institutions in how they treat employees "who perform tasks so central to their religious missions - even if the tasks themselves do not advertise their religious nature."
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-carolina-catholic-school-fired-gay-teacher-lonnie-billard-wedding-court-ruling/
BOSSHOG
(37,305 posts)Oopsie Daisy
(3,056 posts)* religious institutions can get away with almost anything they want when it comes to bigotry, hate, sexism, homophobia, paedophilia, etc.
Marthe48
(17,337 posts)Can his edict be retroactive? Could the teacher fired appeal based on new Church guidelines?
Will everything individuals do be at the whim of a few people who rule absolutely, either benignly or with an iron hand? So that no human will truly live the path they envisioned? Or if they live their path, fear constantly that what they have will be destroyed because one man says no?
PlutosHeart
(1,357 posts)The people who fired him are out of touch with what Francis does. But they don't care apparently.
gay texan
(2,524 posts)Is why any gay person would work at a religious private school.
Youll always have a target on your back
malthaussen
(17,294 posts)Take away the "gay" part. Imagine I am a business owner who belongs to a cult that doesn't approve of marriage at all. I could then fire anyone who got married. That is ridiculous.
This "sincere religious beliefs" crap has gone way too far.
-- Mal