Catholic School Sued For Firing Teacher Who Had A Gay "Wedding"

 Next could be a Yeshiva

For the past four years, Flint Dollar has been teaching music at Mount de Sales Academy, a Catholic school in Macon, Ga. He is, by "all" accounts, beloved by his students.

But Dollar won't be leading the band or teaching the chorus in the fall. His contract was not renewed after administrators found out he plans to "marry" a man.

Under federal Anti-"discrimination laws for now Democrats are trying to pass ENDA Supported by many including republicans such as John McCain showing once again that republicans can't be trusted and we must look at the individuals in every single case, employers are not prohibited from hiring or firing people on the basis of "sexual orientation". Dollar is working to change that.

He says when he was hired, he was honest with school administrators about his sexual orientation. But a month ago, just as Dollar was letting his students out for summer, he was called to see the school president.

"When you're called in the last part of the day on the last day of the week, it's not a good sign," Dollar says. "I was told that ... the bishop the Catholic hierarchy for an area of the Diocese of Savannah called and expressed his concern that if I was to return it would be against the teachings of the Catholic Church thus should be allowed under the first amendment even if homosexuality was covered in federal, state, and local anti "discrimination laws, showing once again that homosexual "rights" takes precedence over freedom of religion in the minds of liberals."

What changed? Well, Dollar had announced on Facebook that he plans to "marry" his longtime partner in Minnesota this summer. The Catholic Church's position against same-sex "marriage" is clear thus making this a religious issue and the Catholic church immune in a rational conversation from all discrimination laws, and the diocese says it supports the school in its decision to let Dollar go.

School officials, without addressing this case specifically, released a statement saying they have to consider an employee's ability to teach Catholic doctrine when making staff decisions.  just like a Yeshiva should have the right have not to higher people that they think go against the Torah even as a janitor (who can still have exposure to kids and influence them and it's the Yeshivas prerogative to do so or not to do so)

"I was told very specifically I didn't do anything wrong besides the obvious, that there were no parent complaints, no student complaints, but regardless, I would not be returning," Dollar says. "I'm still kind of processing that."

Since neither federal law nor state law in Georgia expressly forbids employers from discriminating against gays, it initially seemed like there was nothing Dollar could do. But Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which turned 50 this week, does prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex notice how liberals purposely misinterpit "discrimination" based on sex like they did in the Williamsburg stores casehttp://unitedtosaveamerica.blogspot.com/2014/02/how-city-won-their-attack-on.html. Dollar's lawyer, Charles Cox, sees an opening there.

"When you fire somebody because they are engaging in a same-sex "marriage", I "think" that pretty clearly fits with gender discrimination," Cox says. "You're being fired because you're not complying with traditional gender stereotypes, and that's "wrong", and we "believe" it's unlawful."

Enterprising lawyers have been making that argument since at least the 1990s, and federal courts have been saying "nice try" just as long. But in April, a judge in Washington made a ruling in a lawsuit brought by federal employee Peter TerVeer. TerVeer claims his supervisor at the Library of Congress made his work life miserable because TerVeer is gay.

LGBT rights attorney Greg Nevins, who is helping with TerVeer's case, "explains" how TerVeer sued under Title VII:

"His romantic or intimate interest in men is something that the women workers at the office were not penalized for, but he was," Nevins says. "He made that claim in federal district court, and the court allowed it to proceed, despite a motion to dismiss by the Department of Justice." possibly the only decent move they have made in recent years

Now the TerVeer case is giving "hope" to people like Dollar. He's filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, alleging sex discrimination. Matthew Franck, a constitutional scholar at Princeton, says that might work — but it shouldn't.

"I realize that in half a century a lot of judicial interpretation has gone into the application of Title VII," Franck says, "but I think it's fairly clear that Title VII's reference to sex as a category of discrimination, that the people who wrote that had nothing like sexual orientation in their minds. It was not contemplated similar to the 14th amendment which Kennedy had no problem reinterpreting to include a constitutional right to practice homosexual acts."

The EEOC said in a 2012 case that "discrimination" against transgender people constitutes sex "discrimination". Franck says he's not a fan of that either, but he thinks it's at least closer to the original intent of the Civil Rights Act.

Back in Georgia, Dollar is playing organ part time at a Presbyterian church while he looks for a job and fights his case. He says getting his old position back is not the goal. forcing religious institutions to violate their religious doctrines in the name of gay rights is

"I don't want anybody else to have to go through what I've been through," he says. "This last month has been up and down. It's been painful. There are days that I don't want to get out of bed."

But as the courts keep rapidly changing the way they view sexual orientation, Dollar hopes that he may be among the last generation of people who risk losing their jobs at a religious institution because they're gay.
(NPR) highlights my additions

Gay Catholic School Teacher Sues After Being Fired

Your Yeshiva Could Be Next!


A gay teacher has filed a lawsuit against an Ohio Catholic school for being fired after school officials discovered she was gay from her mother's published obituary which included the name of her partner.

Carla Hale, 57, spent the last 19 years as a physical education teacher at Bishop Watterson High School. However, she said she was let go because her relationship is against Biblical teachings.

She plans to file a complaint this week with the city of Columbus, which prohibits firings based on sexual orientation, her attorney Thomas Tootle stated Monday. She also filed a grievance that is now being reviewed by a union representing teachers in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus.

Hale said she was fired during Holy Week in March after an anonymous letter sent to school administrators drew attention to the obituary published in The Columbus Dispatch. Signed by "a concerned parent," the letter reads:

"My daughter came home and told me that one of the gym teacher's mother had died. She asked me to pray for her. When we looked in the obituaries, I was shocked by what I saw. It had her teacher's name and that of her 'spouse' listed. It was two females!"

Hale, who is Methodist, was informed about two weeks after her mother's death that the school was investigating, but she never had a chance to discuss it with school leaders, her attorney said.
"It's kind of baffling that someone would take an obituary and use it, to me, in such a mean-spirited manner," Hale said at a news conference last week.

The Diocese of Columbus released a statement saying, "All Catholic school personnel at the outset of their employment agree that they will abide by the rules, regulations and policies of the Catholic Diocese, including respecting the moral values advanced by the teachings of Christ."

Students have rallied behind Hale following her termination from the school. An online petition seeking her reinstatement has collected about 100,000 supporters.
(Latino Post)

more on this story

Carla Hale and her attorney have filed a criminal complaint with the Columbus Community Relations Commission.

Hale is the Bishop Watterson physical education teacher who was fired by the Catholic Diocese of Columbus after her same-sex relationship was published in her mother's obituary.

Tom Tootle, Hale's attorney, said he hand-delivered the complaint to the commission, and that the executive director of that commission said the next step is an investigation.
 "If appropriate, they will charge the party responsible for terminating Ms. Hale with a first-degree misdemeanor," said Tootle.

He said they filed a discrimination complaint with the city at the same time Hale's grievance with the Diocese of Columbus is moving through the second stage at her teacher's union.

NBC4 asked Tootle why they are filing both at the same time.
"There is a time deadline to file. Under the section, we have only six months. We want to make sure we have met that deadline," he said.

The diocese has not responded to questions about the complaint filed, but has said all along that Hale was fired for a spousal relationship, which they believe is a distinction that could make the complaint a moot point. It means the church believes Hale was living out of wedlock regardless of whether her spouse is a man or woman.

Tootle said they have three ways to appeal Hale's firing: the grievance stages, a civil lawsuit, and the criminal complaint with the Columbus Community Relations Commission.

The director of that commission said now that they have the complaint, they will conduct a full investigation that is reviewed by the commissioners and a judge.
"If there is a probable finding, the commission will look at that again and refer it to the city attorney's office to determine if they can prosecute at that time," said Napoleon Bell, commission executive director.
"When you look at the letter of termination and the documents submitted with our complaint, there is no room for doubt whatsoever that Carla Hale was terminated on the basis of her sexual orientation," said Tootle.
(nbcnews.com)