‘I did nothing wrong.’ Gay teacher who lost job at Charlotte Catholic High wins lawsuit
A federal judge on Friday ruled in favor of a gay former teacher who lost his job at Charlotte Catholic High School after announcing on Facebook his planned marriage to his longtime male partner.
The school and the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte violated workplace sex discrimination laws in firing the former drama teacher, Lonnie Billard, U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn Jr. ruled.
Reacting to the judge’s decision, Billard said in a statement that he felt “a sense of relief and a sense of vindication.”
“I wish I could have remained teaching all this time.,” Billard said in the statement issued Friday by the ACLU of North Carolina, which represented him in the case. “Today’s decision validates that I did nothing wrong by being a gay man.”
In a statement Saturday, diocesan officials said they “respectfully disagree” with Cogburn’s ruling “and are considering next steps.”
“The First Amendment, federal law, and recent Supreme Court decisions all recognize the rights of religious organizations to make employment decisions based on religious observance and preference,” according to the statement from the diocese. “They do not — and should not — compel religious schools to employ teachers who publicly contradict their teachings.
“The Catholic schools offered by the Diocese of Charlotte exist to provide high-quality education and transmit the Catholic faith to the next generation. Like all religious schools, Catholic schools are permitted to employ educators who support our Church’s teachings and will not publicly oppose them.”
Teacher of the Year
Billard, a former banker, joined the Charlotte Catholic faculty full time in 2001, the year he became involved with the man he later wed, The Observer previously reported.
Billard was named the school’s Teacher of the Year in 2012. At that time, he was told by then-principal Jerry Healy that he was the only teacher nominated every year the award had been in place, according to his lawsuit.
He retired after the 2012 school year but remained as a substitute teacher. He said he never tried to hide that he’s gay from anyone at the school. His partner accompanied him to school events and was well known to Charlotte Catholic students, teachers, parents and administrators, he said.
Supreme Court ruling
In fall 2014, after the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down the federal ban on same-sex marriage, Billard said he and his partner decided to wed the following spring.
On Oct. 25, 2014, two weeks after North Carolina’s marriage ban also was struck down by the courts, Billard posted his wedding announcement on Facebook.
On Christmas Day that year, Billard learned he’d lost his job as a substitute, according to his complaint. An assistant principal later told him that the diocese had ordered his “termination” due to the Facebook post, the lawsuit said.
A diocesan spokesman told Charlotte media at the time that Billard lost his job “for going on Facebook, entering in a same-sex relationship and saying in a very public way that he does not agree with the teachings of the Catholic Church.”
Trial ahead to determine compensation
In his 54-page ruling Friday, Cogburn said federal laws protecting church autonomy and freedom of association didn’t “shield” the school and diocese from liability for violating sex discrimination laws in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
The judge ordered the case to trial to determine how the diocese should compensate Billard.
In his lawsuit, Billard requested back pay and benefits, punitive damage, compensatory damages for emotional distress and a court order blocking the school and Catholic leaders from taking similar punitive actions in the future.
