Woman says Roncalli fired her for supporting 2 employees fired over same-sex marriages

[Muda69]

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/education/2019/10/24/woman-says-roncalli-fired-her-supporting-employees-fired-over-same-sex-marriages/2387527001/

Quote

A third Roncalli High School staff member has filed a discrimination complaint against the school and Archdiocese of Indianapolis, alleging she was fired because of her public support of two gay guidance counselors who were fired over their same-sex marriages.

Kelley Fisher was a social worker at Roncalli for 15 years until she was fired this past spring. Fisher, who had worked in the guidance department with former counselors Shelly Fitzgerald and Lynn Starkey, said in a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that she was retaliated against by school and archdiocese officials because she publicly supported her coworkers.

In response to questions from IndyStar about Fisher's dismissal, the archdiocese said it has a constitutional right to "hire leaders who support the schools’ religious mission."

...

Though Fisher worked at Roncalli, she was an employee of Catholic Charities, which is part of the archdiocese and is contracted by schools to place social workers in them. Fisher alleges she was told by Archbishop Charles Thompson that if she publicly supported Fitzgerald or Starkey, she’d be going against the Catholic church.

After 15 years with the school, Fitzgerald was suspended from Roncalli because of her same-sex marriage last August and later fired. Starkey, also in a same-sex marriage, was fired at the end of the 2018-19 school year after working there for 39 years.

Fisher, who is not a member of the LGBTQ community, said she made two public Facebook posts supporting the women and advocating for a change in contract language that the archdiocese has arguedprohibits the employment of people who violate church teachings, which includes entering into a same-sex marriage.

One of those posts was a copy of a letter she’d written and sent to leadership within the archdiocese and Roncalli about her support for Fitzgerald in the immediate aftermath of Fitzgerald's suspension last August. In that letter, Fisher said she wrote that she wanted to be a “voice for social justice” and asked for a change in the contract.

“As an advocate for social justice and against discrimination, I really felt, you know, propelled to make that public statement,” Fisher said in a recent interview with IndyStar.

In response, Fisher said her bosses at Catholic Charities called her into a meeting with Roncalli Principal Chuck Weisenbach. She was asked if she could adhere to Catholic teachings and, Fisher said, told that there were concerns she wouldn't adhere to Catholic teachings when giving advice to LGBTQ students. Fisher said she’d spoken to students on both sides of the archdiocese's position on employees in same-sex marriages, which had divided both the Roncalli and broader Catholic community.

“Our job is, as a counselor or social worker, that we don't bring our values or judgment into a session,” Fisher said. “And I feel very strongly about that.”

Four months later, Fisher was placed on a “performance improvement plan.” She said she’s never had anything other than positive performance reviews previously.

The reasoning for the plan, according to Fisher’s EEOC filing was, among other things, because she’d “engaged in conduct that is adversarial to the school, i.e. public postings about the guidance department’s dysfunction,” because her advocacy was disruptive to her department and because of her potential to be a witness in her coworkers’ cases.

Both Fitzgerald and Starkey have filed lawsuits against the school and archdiocese.

 

Fisher’s contract was with Catholic Charities and not the school – unlike other school employees. Roncalli renewed its contract with Catholic Charities, but not Fisher’s placement.

She was told in April that “returning to Roncalli next year is not going to be an option,” according to the EEOC filing. Fisher, who says she'd usually know where she'd be placedin late winter or early spring, then sought a placement at a different school through Catholic Charities but that was eventually denied and she was fired in late May.

Fisher said she was told she was fired because of an email she sent to several coworkers in early May letting them know she wasn’t being brought back to Roncalli because of her support of Fitzgerald and Starkey.

She’s speaking out now, she said, because she thinks it’s important people know why she was fired.

“If you publicly support, you know, (being) against discrimination… you too, can be a victim of losing your job.”

.....

The lawsuits just keep piling up against the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.  

[gonzoron]

But it's ok with Roncalli if you're a child molesting priest: https://www.wthr.com/article/indianapolis-priest-charged-child-sex-crimes

[gonzoron]

16 hours ago, gonzoron said:

But it's ok with Roncalli if you're a child molesting priest: https://www.wthr.com/article/indianapolis-priest-charged-child-sex-crimes

I see we have a fan of child molesters. Unfortunate. 

[Irishman]

I saw the point of the post as showing the hypocrisy of the leadership in the Indy Diocese. A woman who does her job, and does it well, is fired because she does not meet some morality clause in a contract in the eyes of the Archbishop; yet a priest charged with multiple counts of disgusting acts that are not only illegal, but also violate the teachings of the church is merely reassigned and later suspended. 

[Muda69]

12 hours ago, Irishman said:

I saw the point of the post as showing the hypocrisy of the leadership in the Indy Diocese. A woman who does her job, and does it well, is fired because she does not meet some morality clause in a contract in the eyes of the Archbishop; yet a priest charged with multiple counts of disgusting acts that are not only illegal, but also violate the teachings of the church is merely reassigned and later suspended. 

Agreed.  That has been the modus operandi of the Catholic church for decades, probably even centuries.   Why are men protected wile women are vilified?

 

[gonzoron]

24 minutes ago, TrojanDad said:

My comment wasn't about the Diocese.

You didn't make  a comment about the Diocese. Not until 36 hours after your downvote (with no comment) of my original post. Got anything to contribute to the thread while keeping on topic?

[Muda69]

1 hour ago, gonzoron said:

You didn't make  a comment about the Diocese. Not until 36 hours after your downvote (with no comment) of my original post. Got anything to contribute to the thread while keeping on topic?

Retaliating due to downvotes.  How mature.

 

[gonzoron]

25 minutes ago, Muda69 said:

Retaliating due to downvotes.  How mature.

 

Retaliating?? Nah, it's all for entertainment purposes! Besides, if my reputation count gets too low, I'll just ask an Admin to give me a couple thousand extra upvotes.

[Muda69]

1 minute ago, gonzoron said:

Retaliating?? Nah, it's all for entertainment purposes! Besides, if my reputation count gets too low, I'll just ask an Admin to give me a couple thousand extra upvotes.

Right.

 

[gonzoron]

2 hours ago, TrojanDad said:

  How about just stopping the ridiculous behavior?

You have several options. You can report my post to the Admins, you can put me on ignore so you won't even see my posts, or, you can simply choose not to initiate engagement to begin with. Or none of the above. Doesn't matter to me!

[Irishman]

Roncalli just cannot seem to keep itself out of the news. Sooooooo many people failed this young man; from the guys on the team he was the most loyal fan of, to the adults in the building who should have done more, but swept it under the rug. I feel horrible for this young man and his mom. Just thinking about the humiliation he experiences replaying these incidents every day makes me sick to my stomach. Sadly, it’s just another example of the double standard in place. A great employee, who excelled at what she did is terminated simply because of who she is, and this stuff is excused by the so many of the same people. The Dean of Students should be dismissed immediately and charged with failure to report. 
https://www.wthr.com/article/police-investigate-alleged-assault-inside-roncalli-football-locker-room

[Muda69]

41 minutes ago, Irishman said:

Roncalli just cannot seem to keep itself out of the news. Sooooooo many people failed this young man; from the guys on the team he was the most loyal fan of, to the adults in the building who should have done more, but swept it under the rug. I feel horrible for this young man and his mom. Just thinking about the humiliation he experiences replaying these incidents every day makes me sick to my stomach. Sadly, it’s just another example of the double standard in place. A great employee, who excelled at what she did is terminated simply because of who she is, and this stuff is excused by the so many of the same people. The Dean of Students should be dismissed immediately and charged with failure to report. 
https://www.wthr.com/article/police-investigate-alleged-assault-inside-roncalli-football-locker-room

We'll see what the police investigation reveals, but if all of these allegations are true then the Indianapolis Archdiocese probably won't have any choice but to perform a wholesale firing of Roncalli administrators and coaches.

What kind of charges can be brought against the students who allegedly perpetrated these disgusting acts?

 

 

 

[Bobref]

I say, turn loose the lawyers. Then there will be an accounting.

[DanteEstonia]

On 11/26/2019 at 6:39 AM, Irishman said:

Roncalli just cannot seem to keep itself out of the news. Sooooooo many people failed this young man; from the guys on the team he was the most loyal fan of, to the adults in the building who should have done more, but swept it under the rug. I feel horrible for this young man and his mom. Just thinking about the humiliation he experiences replaying these incidents every day makes me sick to my stomach. Sadly, it’s just another example of the double standard in place. A great employee, who excelled at what she did is terminated simply because of who she is, and this stuff is excused by the so many of the same people. The Dean of Students should be dismissed immediately and charged with failure to report. 
https://www.wthr.com/article/police-investigate-alleged-assault-inside-roncalli-football-locker-room

It’s always suburban kids who do stuff like this.