A Catholic school in North Carolina had the right to fire a gay teacher who announced his marriage on social media a decade ago, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, reversing a judge’s earlier decision.
A panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, reversed a 2021 ruling that Charlotte Catholic High School and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte had violated Lonnie Billard’s federal employment protections against sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The school said Billard wasn’t invited back as a substitute teacher because of his “advocacy in favor of a position that is opposed to what the church teaches about marriage,” a court document said.
Obergefell is a 14th Amendment ruling, which is “equal protection under the law.” So if straight couples are allowed to marry, then gay couples must be allowed to marry.
But with at-will employment, everyone is equally unprotected under the law. So no 14th Amendment violation.
The non-discrimination stuff in employment law comes from the Civil Rights act.