Fired Lesbian Guidance Counsellor Sues Indianapolis Archdiocese
Shelly Fitzgerald, a former guidance counselor at an Indianapolis Catholic high school is suing the school and the city’s archdiocese for being fired after marrying another woman, ‘NBC News’ report.
The federal lawsuit alleges that by firing her “defendants explicitly and impermissibly have discriminated because of sex.”
"Though the Defendants claim they took adverse actions against Fitzgerald because her actions allegedly contradicted the teaching of the Catholic Church," the suit states, "they took and take no similar actions against male and/or heterosexual employees whose actions also contradict the teaching of the Catholic Church."
After marrying her wife in 2014, she was outed as gay and was given the ultimatum: resign or “dissolve” her marriage.
"I told them, you know, I've been quiet for 15 years so why is this different? I mean I've hidden everything from social media. I've hidden from people I love because I knew I was at risk for losing my job over this," Fitzgerald said. "I have no intention of resigning. I have no intention of being quiet. And I didn't need the counsel that they were offering from priests. My goal, my intent, is just to be a catalyst for change. That's it."
Shelly Fitzgerald becomes at least the third gay former employee of an Indianapolis Catholic school to sue the city's archdiocese this year.
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