A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that an Indianapolis Catholic high school was allowed to fire its guidance counselor because she is in a same-sex marriage.
Shelly Fitzgerald was fired from Roncalli High School in Indianapolis in 2018 after working there for 14 years after the school discovered that she is married to a woman. Fitzgerald sued the school over her firing.
The school argued that Fitzgerald fell into the “ministerial exception,” which allows religious institutions to fire employees for their personal beliefs. The exception generally applied to those whose work was directly involved in religious practice, but the Supreme Court expanded the rule to include teachers at religious schools in 2020.
The appellate court decision Thursday expands the exception again to also include school guidance counselors. A second guidance counselor at the school was also fired due to her same-sex marriage in 2018. She also sued the school, but courts came to the same decision.
“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,” Judge Richard Young wrote in the decision.
Fitzgerald disputed that she would be covered by the ministerial exception, claiming to have no role in religious practice or oversight. The court sided with the school, saying that she was part of the school’s administrative counsel and did counsel students considering religion.
“Fitzgerald’s membership in this group made her one of a handful of “key, visible leader[s]” of the school. And despite Fitzgerald’s attempts to undermine her contributions, there is no genuine dispute that Fitzgerald participated in some of the religious aspects of the Administrative Counsel,” the decision reads.
The appellate decision comes after the Supreme Court ruled last month that businesses can turn away LGBTQ customers. Advocates have warned that the Supreme Court decision can open the door to legalizing discrimination against LGBTQ people writ large.
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