INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) — Former Roncalli Guidance Counselor Shelly Fitzgerald is suing the school and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis for discrimination.
Fitzgerald was placed on administrative leave in 2018 over her same-sex marriage. The suit claims she was then banned from campus and fired from her job over it.
The lawsuit is asking for a jury trial and damages for back pay with interest, punitive damages for emotional distress and mental anguish, losses she has sustained and will sustain, and her attorney fees.
Right now the Supreme Court of the United States is considering whether existing federal civil rights law protects LGBT employees from job discrimination. A decision is expected by summer 2020.
Eyewitness News has reached out to the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and Roncalli for a response to the lawsuit. Roncalli has not responded. The Archdiocese of Indianapolis issued the following response through its attorney:
"Catholic schools exist to communicate the Catholic faith to the next generation. To accomplish their mission, Catholic schools ask all teachers, administrators, and guidance counselors to uphold the Catholic faith by word and action, both inside and outside the classroom. If a school’s leaders reject core aspects of the Catholic faith, it undermines the school’s ability to accomplish its mission. Because of that, the Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized that religious schools have a constitutional right to hire leaders who support the schools’ religious mission."