Federal judge rules in favor of Roncalli, Archdiocese of Indianapolis in Shelly Fitzgerald case

INDIANAPOLIS — A federal choose has dominated in favor of Roncalli Excessive College and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis years after a former steering counselor filed a federal lawsuit in opposition to each events.

Shelly Fitzgerald filed the lawsuit in 2019. Fitzgerald labored for Roncalli for 15 years earlier than she was fired after the college realized she was in a same-sex marriage.

Fitzgerald alleged that Roncalli retaliated in opposition to her and the Archdiocese interfered along with her contractual and enterprise relationship with the college.

The Archdiocese and Roncalli mentioned the ministerial exception bars all of Fitzgerald’s claims. The exception binds courts “to remain out of employment disputes involving these holding sure essential positions with church buildings and different non secular establishments.”

Fitzgerald argued that Roncalli by no means entrusted her with non secular instructing duties by elevating quite a few real factual disputes over what precisely she did on the faculty.

In court docket paperwork, Decide Richard L. Younger wrote that “Roncalli entrusted Fitzgerald to show the Catholic religion and perform Roncalli’s non secular mission. Fitzgerald’s employment settlement was a “instructing ministry contract” and Fitzgerald agreed to “[f]aithfully carry out all duties of a [t]eacher within the faculty.”

Younger additionally mentioned that the job of a highschool steering counsellor is “predominately secular” and that it was a stretch to name the counsellor a minister.

“However as a result of Roncalli, by way of the employment settlement and school handbooks, expressly entrusted Fitzgerald with shaping the college’s non secular coverage, Fitzgerald’s place as Co-Director of Steerage qualifies for the ministerial exception,” the doc learn.

The choose granted abstract judgement and resolved the entire claims at concern within the case.

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