OHIO
Lez Get Real
Posted by: Bridgette P. LaVictoire on June 4, 2013.
The Catholic Church isn’t going to be too happy with this verdict. US District Court Judge Susan Dlott has ordered that the Archdiocese of Cincinnati must pay Christa Dias some $171,000 after they fired the unmarried teacher for becoming pregnant by artificial insemination. The jury ruled in favor of the fired teacher.
Dias, who is lesbian and not Catholic, said after the verdict “I was relieved. It’s been a very, very long road. Now, I can go on with my life.”
The thirty-four year old was a computer teacher at Holy Family and St. Lawrence schools, both run by the archdiocese. Back in 2010, she informed officials that she needed maternity leave, which was surprising to officials since Dias is single and the Catholic Church frowns upon unwed mothers. The method by which she got pregnant is also forbidden under Church teaching.
The archdiocese argued that she had violated her employment contract which required her to live within the teaching of the Catholic Church. Dias countered that she was not a “ministerial employee” and did not teach religion or Catholicism. The contract did not exactly specify that she be Catholic, but did specify that she be Christian and follow the Bible. The archdiocese apparently forgot that there are different interpretations of the Bible across different forms of Christianity.
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