A Catholic school in North Carolina had the right to fire a gay teacher who announced his marriage on social media a decade ago, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, reversing a judge’s earlier decision.
A panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, reversed a 2021 ruling that Charlotte Catholic High School and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte had violated Lonnie Billard’s federal employment protections against sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The school said Billard wasn’t invited back as a substitute teacher because of his “advocacy in favor of a position that is opposed to what the church teaches about marriage,” a court document said.
I think that people often work jobs that don’t align with their beliefs. We don’t know peoples circumstances and I think its unfair to assume that everyone has a easy choice in their employer. As you said, it likely isn’t a very nice place to work for him, and as such its likely not his first choice. Even if he had other options, this seems like a case of workplace discrimination, which would make him a victim.