Court Upholds Roncalli's Right To Dismiss Guidance Counselor

Source: (PHOTO: WISH-TV)

INDIANAPOLIS — You may remember the case of guidance counselor Shelly Fitzgerald being fired by Roncalli High School in Indy for being in a same-sex marriage in 2019.

Fitzgerald, who had worked at Roncalli for about 15 years before she was fired, sued the Archdiocese of Indianapolis for wrongful termination On Thursday the US Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that the school did have the right to fire Fitzgerald.

The school has previously argued that Fitzgerald signed and agreed to a ministerial job description in her employment contract and that she live in accordance with the teachings of the Catholic Church. The school also said she acknowledged she breached this clause of the contract by entering into a marriage that is not valid in the eyes of the Catholic Church.

The same court also backed a similar lower court ruling in July in the case of another Roncalli counselor, Lynn Starkey, who was also fired for being in a same-sex marriage.