Federal appeals court sides with Archdiocese on gay-Roncalli counselor firing

Caroline Beck, Indianapolis Star
·3 min read
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A federal appeals court has rejected a former Roncalli High School counselor’s discrimination case against the school and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis after she was fired over her same-sex marriage.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals announced Thursday that it is dismissing Lynn Starkey’s appeal in her lawsuit against the high school, which she filed in 2019 after she was fired the previous year.

A federal judge in August of 2021 ruled the church acted within its constitutionally-protected rights when the school fired Starkey, who had worked there for nearly 40 years.

Starkey then sought to overturn the court’s finding that Starkey was a “minister of the faith” in her role as a guidance counselor.

Becket, the group representing the archdiocese, said in a statement that the appeals court ruling affirms the freedom of religious schools to choose leaders who uphold their core religious teachings.

“Religious groups have a constitutional right to hire individuals who believe in their faith’s ideals and are committed to their religious mission,” said Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at Becket. “Our justice system has consistently ruled that the government cannot intrude on a religious organization’s choice of who will pass on the faith to the next generation.”

In a 2019 lawsuit, Starkey alleged that the archdiocese and Roncalli subjected her to a hostile work environment, discriminated against her on the basis of her sexual orientation and retaliated against her due to her complaints of discrimination.

Starkey’s lawyers said in an emailed statement on Friday that Starkey was disappointed in the court’s opinion and plans to continue to advocate that government funding not go to private schools that engage in discrimination.

“For 40 years, Lynn Starkey was an award-winning educator at Roncalli High School, who was beloved by students, parents and faculty,” said the statement from DeLaney & DeLaney LLC. “Roncalli’s principal repeatedly documented that Lynn was in the top 1% of educators with whom he’s ever worked. Lynn’s reason for pursuing this lawsuit was to help prevent other employees of religious institutions from suffering wrongful discrimination.”

Lynn Starkey, a 2009 Teacher of the Year and former co-director of guidance at Roncalli High School, is shown outside her lawyer's office on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019. Starkey has found a new job but continues her legal fight which began after she learned her contract would not be renewed at Roncalli High School, where she "worked her entire adult life," 39 years. The Archdiocese of Indianapolis has said that she was "in breach of her contract with Roncalli High School because she is in a civil union that is considered 'contrary to a valid marriage as seen through the eyes of the Catholic Church.' "

Starkey was one of two gay, married guidance counselors fired from Roncalli during a spate of high-profile skirmishes between LGBTQ employees and the archdiocese. Her co-director of guidance, Shelly Fitzgerald, was suspended at the start of the 2018-19 school year and later fired. Starkey continued working but claimed in her lawsuit that she was subjected to discrimination, a hostile work environment and retaliation.

The firings drew nationwide attention, both in condemnation of the church's actions and in support. Throughout, the archdiocese held that it had the right to hire employees that upheld the teachings of the Catholic church.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita led a 16-state amicus brief supporting Roncalli and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and commented on the ruling.

“Hoosiers have the right to worship as they choose, and churches have the right to uphold the beliefs they consider sacred,” Rokita said in a press release on Friday.

IndyStar reporter Arika Herron contributed to this reporting.

Contact IndyStar reporter Caroline Beck at 317-618-5807 or CBeck@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @CarolineB_Indy.

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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Archdiocese wins appeals case in gay-Roncalli counselor firing