{"id":3435,"date":"2013-06-06T12:02:00","date_gmt":"2013-06-06T12:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/despite-lawsuit-ohio-archdiocese-keeps-teacher-morality-clause\/"},"modified":"2013-06-06T12:02:00","modified_gmt":"2013-06-06T12:02:00","slug":"despite-lawsuit-ohio-archdiocese-keeps-teacher-morality-clause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/06\/despite-lawsuit-ohio-archdiocese-keeps-teacher-morality-clause\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite lawsuit, Ohio archdiocese keeps teacher morality clause"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Cincinnati, Ohio, Jun 6, 2013 \/ 06:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Although the Archdiocese of Cincinnati has been ordered to pay $171,000 to a school teacher fired for undergoing artificial insemination, a spokesman says it has no intention to end morality requirements.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cFor the archdiocese, this case has always been about an employee violating a legally enforceable contract that she signed,\u201d communications director Dan Andriacco said June 5.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe also believe that we have a First Amendment right to give Catholic school parents what they expect \u2013 an environment that reflects Catholic moral teaching,\u201d he added. \u201cOur schools are Catholic schools and the work that our school employees do is an extension of that ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAndriacco told CNA the archdiocese believes the lawsuit filed by former computer teacher Christa Dias should have fallen under the \u201cministerial exception\u201d to employment law and \u201cshould never have gone to trial.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tA federal jury found that the archdiocese had violated anti-discrimination law by firing Dias, who is now 34. The jury awarded $100,000 in punitive damages and compensatory damages of $71,000 on Monday.<\/p>\n

\tIn October 2010 the archdiocese fired the non-Catholic teacher from her positions at Holy Family Catholic School and St. Lawrence Catholic School in Cincinnati. Dias was unmarried and had told officials she needed maternity leave and that she had undergone artificial insemination.<\/p>\n

\tIn 2011, Dias filed a lawsuit charging that her firing violated state and federal laws against pregnancy discrimination. She said she had not known that Catholic teaching barred artificial insemination.<\/p>\n

\tSteven Goodin, the attorney for the archdiocese and for the Catholic schools, said Dias was fired for violating her contract, the Associated Press reported.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe gave always argued that this case was about a contract violation and should never have been allowed to come to trial,\u201d Goodin said.<\/p>\n

\tHe pointed to Dias' same-sex relationship, which she had been concealing from her employer, as evidence she never intended to abide by her contract. The relationship was not at issue in the trial.<\/p>\n

\tDias' attorney, Robert Klingler, contended that she had been fired simply because she was pregnant and unmarried, an employment action that violated state and federal law.<\/p>\n

\tA central point in the case was whether Dias qualified as a ministerial employee, which would give the archdiocese religious freedom protections in its hiring decisions. The court ruled she was not a ministerial employee, and therefore the archdiocese was not exempt from ordinary employment laws.<\/p>\n

\tDias also contended that the archdiocese's policies are enforced unequally against men and women.<\/p>\n

\tKlingler said the case shows jurors will apply the law \u201ceven to churches and religious organizations when non-ministerial employees are discriminated against.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tDias' attorneys had asked the jury to award her $637,000. The jury followed the attorneys' request not to find the two schools liable, even though they were also defendants in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

\tAndriacco, the archdiocese's spokesman, said the archdiocese changed its contracts last fall \u201cto make it explicit that we regard our teachers as ministerial employees.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cAt this point we have no plans for further changes,\u201d he said. \u201cWe certainly have no intention to ever remove the morality clause.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cincinnati, Ohio, Jun 6, 2013 \/ 06:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Although the Archdiocese of Cincinnati has been ordered to pay $171,000 to a school teacher fired for undergoing artificial insemination, a spokesman says it has no intention to end morality re…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nDespite lawsuit, Ohio archdiocese keeps teacher morality clause<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cincinnati, Ohio, Jun 6, 2013 \/ 06:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Although the Archdiocese of Cincinnati has been ordered to pay $171,000 to a school teacher fired for undergoing artificial insemination, a spokesman says it has no intention to end morality re...\" \/>\n<meta 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