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Former guidance counselor's termination by Roncalli upheld by Court of Appeals

Roncalli High School was within its rights to terminate a former guidance counselor who was in a same-sex marriage, the court ruled.

INDIANAPOLIS — A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Roncalli High School was within its rights to not renew a former guidance counselor's contract who was in a same-sex marriage. 

Citing the minesterial exemption in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that Lynn Starkey, who worked as a guidance counselor at the Catholic high school, essentially functioned as a minister as part of her job, and that the school has the right to uphold church teachings on same-sex marriage in its hiring and firing decisions involving ministerial employees.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches against same-sex unions.

(NOTE: The video above is from a previous report when Roncalli did not renew Lynn Starkey's contract.)

Starkey, whose 39-year career at Roncalli began as a music teacher, was employed under a one-year contract that included the requirement that employees refrain from "any personal conduct or lifestyle at variance with the policies of the Archdiocese or the moral or religious teachings of the Roman Catholic Church."

Credit: DeLaney & DeLaney, LLC
Lynn Starkey.

That requirement was further clarified in an updated contract that stated that an employee was in default if the employee were to engage in a relationship "contrary to a valid marriage as seen through the eyes of the Catholic Church," which defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

Starkey filed a lawsuit in 2019 against Roncalli High School and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis after Roncalli opted not to renew her contract. Eventually, a U.S. district court ruled in the Catholic institution’s favor, and the guidance counselor appealed.

"I dedicated my professional career to Roncalli. To be treated this way after 39 years has been devastating to me," Starkey said at the time.  

Starkey was the second guidance counselor at Roncalli to lose her job because she's married to a woman, following Shelly Fitzgerald's placement on administrative leave in August 2018.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita praised the ruling, saying in a news release after the decision, "Hoosiers have the right to worship as they choose, and churches have the right to uphold the beliefs they consider sacred.”

"Folks have different viewpoints on same-sex marriage," Rokita said. "But the fact remains that churches and religious institutions have the right to require their ministerial staff, including educators, to support and uphold their doctrinal teachings."

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