Judge: Catholic schools must hire people in gay ‘marriages’ for non-teaching positions
A Massachusetts judge sided with a practicing homosexual who
sued a Catholic school for acting to uphold its Catholic identity.
In a first of its kind case, Norfolk Superior Court Judge
Douglas Wilkins ruled that Fontbonne Academy discriminated against Matthew
Barrett for his
sexual orientation and gender in violation of State law when it withdrew a job
offer in 2013.
Barrett had been offered the position of food services director
at the all-girls Catholic prep school in Milton, MA, but the offer was later
rescinded after Barrett had listed another man as his “husband” and emergency
contact on his employee new hire form.
Wilkins said in his December 16 ruling Barrett's
responsibilities directing food service for the school did not include
presenting the teachings of the Catholic Church, according to the Star Tribune.
“As an educational institution, Fontbonne retains control over
its mission and message,” Wilkins wrote. “It is not forced to allow Barrett to
dilute that message, where he will not be a teacher, minister or spokesman for
Fontbonne and has not engaged in public advocacy of same-sex marriage.”
Wilkins also rejected Fontbonne's claim that hiring Barrett
would infringe on its constitutional rights because his “marriage” to a man is
incompatible with its religious mission. He
ruled that a religious exemption to the state anti-discrimination law applies
only when a religious entity limits admission to people of a certain religion.
Fontbonne Academy is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of
Boston, and is open to students and employees of all faiths, except in the case
of its administration and theology faculty.
LifeSiteNews inquired with Fontbonne Academy and its attorney
John Bagley for comment, asking whether there were plans for an appeal, and did
not hear back by press time.
The decision is the first time a judge has rejected a religious
organization’s claim that it has a constitutional right not to hire employees
in same-sex “marriages,” Barrett’s lawyer, Ben Klein of Gay & Lesbian
Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), said in a reportfrom the Boston Globe.
School hurt themselves with
‘non-discrimination’ policy
American for Truth About Homosexuality President Peter LaBarbera said in a statement that Fontbonne Academy
hurt its own case with its published policy of “sexual
orientation” nondiscrimination concerning
employment.
“That made it easier for the judge, who cites it twice, to
diminish the school’s religious mission,” LaBarbera said.
“The judge probably would have ruled against Fontbonne anyway,”
he continued. “Regardless, no religious or moral institution should ever have a
pro-homosexual hiring code, as it grants the premise that homosexuality (a
moral issue) is akin neutral nondiscrimination criteria that are unchangeable,
such as race and ethnicity.”
Catholic groups decried the judge’s ruling.
Wilkins’ decision “dealt a significant blow” to the freedom
Catholic schools have to hire according to their mission and ask their teachers
and staff to serve as models of the faith, The Cardinal Newman Society said in
a statement. Further,
the ruling asserts Fontbonne Academy’s Catholic mission cannot be extended to encompass
non-teaching positions.
The decision was also criticized by the Catholic Action League of
Massachusetts, which called it “a frontal assault on religious freedom, an
appalling subordination of the First Amendment to the Massachusetts gay rights
law, and a victory by homosexual activists in their campaign to coerce
Christians into compliance with same sex marriage.”
“Judge Wilkins's decision would compel Catholic institutions to
hire those who reject and despise Catholic teaching, fatally impairing the
constitutionally protected right of those institutions to carry on their
mission,” League Executive Director C. J. Doyle said in a statement.
Barrett said in his complaint he was told he could not be hired because he
was in a same-sex “marriage” and this was inconsistent with the Catholic faith
after indicated he had a “husband” in his paperwork.
Barrett’s complaint also states he was advised by Fontbonne’s
then Head of School, Mary Ellen Barnes, that every employee is regarded as a
“minister of the mission,” and that he would be expected to model Catholic
teaching and values. After being asked if he could “buy into that,” his
complaint states, he “responded affirmatively.”
Barrett filed the
complaint with the
Massachusetts Commission against Discrimination in 2014, saying at the time, “I
had all the qualifications. That was the job for me. It just ate me up.”
"Marriage equality has been the law of Massachusetts for
over a decade and it is now the law of the land. But you can't have equality if
you can get married on Saturday and fired on Monday," Barrett's attorney,
Ben Klein of GLAD, stated after Wilkins’ ruling.
Klein also said Wilkins found that Fontbonne is liable to pay
damages to Barrett for lost wages and compensatory damages for discrimination.
Numerous Catholic
schools and parishes have come under fire in recent years for upholding the Catholic
Church’s teaching with
regard to marriage and sexuality, and the long-established expectation that
their employees not openly defy Church teaching by contracting homosexual
“marriages.”
