INDIANAPOLIS — Joshua Payne-Elliott has filed an appeal with the Indiana Court of Appeals after a judge dismissed his lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
The judge was given the case after the Indiana Supreme Court voted 2-2 in December on a request to hear the case. Chief Justice Loretta Rush abstained. That split decision then pushed the case to a special judge.
“The order of dismissal offers no reason, no rationale, and no basis for the decision,” said attorney Kathleen DeLaney of DeLaney & DeLaney LLC. “We have no way to know how the judge got to the decision. The lack of an explanation is unusual, particularly because both the Indiana Supreme Court and the prior Special Judge had already considered and rejected the Archdiocese’s First Amendment arguments."
Payne-Elliott's lawsuit alleges the Archdiocese illegally interfered with his contract and employment at Cathedral High School. He contends he was offered a new contract in May of 2019 and then terminated in June of 2019 as a result of his same-sex marriage. Payne-Elliott had been a teacher at Cathedral High School for 13 years, teaching Foreign Language and Social Studies.
Payne-Elliott said the archdiocese put pressure on the school to fire him. He then settled with the school over his employment discrimination claims and filed a lawsuit against the archdiocese.
The Archdiocese of Indianapolis responded at the time with a statement explaining its position:
“In the Archdiocese of Indianapolis’ Catholic schools, all teachers, school leaders and guidance counselors are ministers and witnesses of the faith, who are expected to uphold the teachings of the Church in their daily lives, both in and out of school. Religious liberty, which is a hallmark of the U.S. Constitution and has been tested in the U.S. Supreme Court, acknowledges that religious organizations may define what conduct is not acceptable and contrary to the teachings of its religion, for its school leaders, guidance counselors, teachers and other ministers of the faith.”
The case will now go to the Indiana Court of Appeals to decide if it will hear Payne-Elliott's appeal.
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