Addressing for the second time the case of a Roncalli High School counselor who was fired for being in a same-sex marriage, the 7th Circuit has again upheld judgment for the Catholic school and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis under the ministerial exception.
Religious entities enjoy constitutional and statutory exemptions from a variety of employment laws. Recent cases in Indiana and across the country are challenging the applicability and scope of these exemptions.
A former Roncalli High School guidance counselor is asking the 7th Circuit Court of Apppeals to revive her lawsuit against the high school and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, arguing that the district court misapplied the ministerial exception.
Michelle “Shelly” Fitzgerald, the former guidance counselor at Roncalli High School who was fired for being in a same-sex marriage, is fighting the dismissal of her lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
Lynn Starkey, the long-time educator fired from Roncalli High School for being married to a woman, is appealing a decision from the Southern Indiana District Court that is potentially the first to extend the “ministerial exception” to cover school guidance counselors.