More than 15,000 from the Columbus area and even abroad sign
petition urging physical education teacher Carla Hale’s reinstatement.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
April 18, 2013
An Ohio woman was fired from her job of 19 years at a Catholic high school after being outed as gay.
But the Columbus, Ohio, community has rallied around Carla Hale, circulating a petition urging her reinstatement to Bishop Watterson High School.
“It’s amazing that they’ve come together and rallied around this situation,” Hale told the Columbus Dispatch. “I’m in awe of them.”
The physical education teacher took time off from school in February in the wake of her mother’s death. Her mother’s obituary mentioned Hale and her female partner as survivors, which attracted the attention of an “appalled” parent.
“If not for an obituary that appeared in the paper, none of this would be happening,” she said.
That parent wrote an anonymous letter to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus, and administrators responded by firing Hale later in March for violating a morality clause.
The petition urging Carla Hale’s reinstatement has been signed by well-wishers from as far away as London. “I’m in awe of them,” Hale said of her supporters.
The clause says “Catholic school personnel are expected to be examples of moral behavior and professionalism.” Not adhering to such behavior, the clause says, can lead to termination.
“Where do you start and finish if you’re talking about immoral behavior within the Catholic Church?” said Hale, a Methodist who ticked off several behaviors of other teachers that potentially violate the clause.
Hale has filed a grievance and may also have on her side a Columbus city ordinance that prohibits employers from discriminating based on segxwal orientation. She’s hired a lawyer, Thomas Tootle, who said fear of repercussions from the Catholic Church “forces people in the closet.”
“If you are at risk of being terminated at any time and for any reason, including your orientation, would you come out, especially when you’re working for the Catholic Church?” he asked.
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