Court rules in favour of teacher fired by Catholic school for being gay

A federal court has ruled that Catholic schools cannot fire teachers for being gay after one in North Carolina did just that.

In 2014, the Charlotte Catholic High School and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Charlotte gave Lonnie Billard the sack after he announced that he was marrying a man on Facebook.

According to Billard’s 2017 lawsuit against the school, local diocese spokesman David Hains publicly said that he was dismissed for “going on Facebook, entering into a same-sex relationship, and saying it in a very public way that he does not agree with the teachings of the Catholic Church”.

Billard had been a longtime staff member at the school at the time of his firing, having taught there for more than 10 years and been winning the Teacher of the Year award in 2012.

The lawsuit explained that he eventually became a regular substitute teacher and usually worked more than a dozen weeks per academic year.

“Apparently there were a couple teachers there who are super-conservative Catholic,” Billard said when he was let go from his job. “They are not friends of mine on Facebook, but they found out about it and escalated it so it got to the diocese.”

Now, U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn ruled that the firing of substitute drama and English teacher Lonnie Billard in 2014 was a wrongful dismissal.

The 3 September ruling said that the school violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which offers federal protection against sex discrimination.

The post Court rules in favour of teacher fired by Catholic school for being gay appeared first on GAY TIMES.