Montana teacher sues the catholic schools that fired her because she got pregnant. The former teacher named Shaela Evenson is suing the Montana Catholic school, claiming that she was dismissed due to the fact she is a lesbian and had a baby out of wedlock.
Teacher from Montana sues school officials who fired her after receiving an anonymous letter that revealed that she was pregnant, unwed and gay.
In January, while she was five months pregnant with her first child, Shaela Evenson received an email from her employers for an urgent meeting.
On January 9th, Evenson sat down with the Superintendent of Butte Central Catholic Schools, Patrick Haggarty, who told her that she had to resign immediately. The then-pregnant teacher asked why.
Haggarty explained that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena received a letter that stated that she was pregnant via artificial insemination.
The head of the schools went on to say that the document also revealed, she was unwed and had been living with her female partner Marilyn Tobin.
Her boss told her that despite being a great teacher for the past 9 years, she is strongly advised to quit.
She refused and continued to teach literature and physical education to 6th, 7th and 8th graders.
Two days later, she received an e-mail saying that she had been fired.
In the e-mail, the teacher was blasted for being a lesbian and was reminded that her decision to be with another woman was against the word of God. She was also told that she failed to have an exemplary life style for her students.
The ex-teacher’s lawyer Brian Butler who won $170,000 for a client in a similar case, blasted the officials of the religious schools, saying that they knew she was a lesbian for 9 years, so, why were they pretending to be surprised when they got the letter?
Butler is certain that the jury will side with the former teacher because she is protected from discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The head of the schools fought back saying they had the right to fire the teacher because she failed to respect the morality clause in her contract.
For some unknown reason male instructors are not investigated on those morality clauses, says Evenson’s lawyer.
