A Chicago-based appeals court rejected discrimination claims made by a former Roncalli High School guidance counselor Thursday, effectively ending a lawsuit against the southside Catholic school.
The lawsuit, filed by Indianapolis-based law firm DeLaney and DeLaney LLC in 2019 against both Roncalli and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, claimed the high school’s administration created a hostile work environment and wouldn’t renew counselor Lynn Starkey’s contract when they found out she was in a same-sex marriage. Starkey worked for the southside Catholic school for 40 years until school officials chose not to renew her contract in 2019. Starkey is married to a woman, and was put on leave months after another Roncalli counselor, Shelly Fitzgerald, was also put on leave due to her same-sex marriage.
In the lawsuit, Starkey’s council claimed discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in employment based on gender, race, color, national origin and religion. It also claimed discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits gender discrimination in any federally funded activity.
Roncalli, though it is a private school, gets federal funding through the special needs program and the National School Lunch Program, the lawsuit said.
Last August, a U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana judge had previously ruled the church acted within its constitutionally-protected rights when the school fired Starkey. The judge ruled that Roncalli officials made their expectations of employees clear, and they had the right not to renew Starkey’s contract under the ministerial exception, which bars the application of anti-discrimination laws on religious institutions’ employment strategies.
The decision was appealed by Starkey, who sought to overturn the court’s finding that she was a “minister of the faith” in her role as a guidance counselor.
Thursday’s decision from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the discrimination claims since she signed a contract that included a moral clause, requiring employees to refrain from a lifestyle that doesn’t run concurrently with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Starkey also signed a “School Guidance Counselor Ministry Contract.” Thus, Roncalli was exempt from discrimination claims under the ministerial exemption, according to court documents.
Starkey was disappointed in the ruling, a statement from DeLaney and DeLaney issued on Friday said.
“Roncalli’s principal repeatedly documented that Lynn was in the top 1% of educators with whom he’s ever worked. Lynn’s reason for pursuing this lawsuit was to help prevent other employees of religious institutions from suffering wrongful discrimination,” the statement said. “Lynn is disappointed in the court’s opinion and plans to continue to advocate that government funding not go to private schools that engage in discrimination.”
Representatives of Becket Law, the Washington, D.C.-based law firm that represented Roncalli and the Archdiocese in the lawsuit, said in a Friday news release that the court had affirmed the freedom of religious schools to choose leaders who will uphold their core religious teachings. Wooton Hoy LLC also represented the school and the Archdiocese.
“Catholic schools are tasked by the Church to uphold the dignity of every human person and teach the fullness of the Catholic faith,” Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at Becket Law, said in a statement. “The Seventh Circuit’s decision ensures that religious schools can remain faithful to their mission.”
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, who led a 16-state coalition in support of the Archdiocese, celebrated the decision.
“Folks have different viewpoints on same-sex marriage,” Rokita said in a statement Friday. “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.”
Daily Journal reporter Noah Crenshaw contributed to this report.
