Church has right to fire employees over religious beliefs, U.S. court says

A Missouri court has ruled in favor of a Catholic diocese's decision to fire an employee for violating the church's religious teachings.

In may 2014, the Diocese of Kansas City – St. Joseph fired Colleen Simon from her position as director for social ministries at St. Francis Xavier Parish after a photo of her with her now legal wife was published in the Kansas City Star's 816 magazine. The church said her same-sex marriage went against the Catholic Church's belief, so they terminated her employment, according to Christian Today.

Simon fought back and filed a lawsuit two months later on the grounds that the diocese knew she was a lesbian before she began working for the church. She also alleged that the diocese made her believe that her sexual orientation would not have any bearing on her employment, the report relays.

However, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) proved that Simon was well aware of the conflict that same-sex relations could have with the church's teaching. A brief filed by ADF for the diocese showed that Simon had previously worked with other Diocese churches, and that would have made her aware of the rules and teaching of the Church, including the Policy on Ethics and Integrity in Ministry.

"Churches should have the right to hire and fire people based on how consistently they live out their religious beliefs," ADF legal counsel Jeremiah Galus said. "If an employee is undermining or publicly opposing the church's teaching, the church is within its constitutional rights to terminate employment."

Galus also explained that not being forced to employ workers if their actions contradict core religious beliefs will help preserve the integrity of religious institutions. Employing people who disobey the church's teachings will prevent them from performing their religious duties accordingly, the Catholic News Agency relays.

In addition, Galus said the court's decision just reaffirms that federal discrimination laws are not applicable to religious groups when it comes to hiring religious leaders. The U.S. Supreme Court had already established this principle in Hosanna-Tabor, he said.

In light of this, the Jackson County Circuit Court ruled that courts must uphold churches' First Amendment and should not interfere with their religious practices and teachings.