Maggie Barton claims she was fired at the direction of the Archdiocese of Denver because of her sexual orientation. She had been a teacher in Englewood, Colorado for almost a decade. She was teaching technology at All Souls Catholic School in Englewood when she said her job was terminated because she is in a same-sex relationship.
“It’s discrimination. There’s no other word for it. To be terminated from a position because of my sexual orientation, that’s discrimination,” Barton told FOX31.
The Archdiocese of Denver released a statement to FOX31, stating “The school found it necessary to conclude the teacher’s employment because she did not honor the commitments she agreed to in her contract with the school. Every Catholic school teacher in the Archdiocese of Denver, as a minister of the Church, signs a contract at the outset of each school year, and in that agreement, they pledge to ‘personally [exemplify] the characteristics of Catholic living,’ which includes ‘refraining from taking any public position or conducting himself or herself in a manner that is contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.’”
Barton loved teaching at the Catholic school, especially because she grew up in the Catholic faith and embodied their values. “I just absolutely fell in love with it,” Barton said of her teaching role. […] “I chose to work in a Catholic school because that’s what I know, that’s what I love, that’s what’s familiar to me and I wanted to give students the same experience that I had,” Barton said. “Just because of my sexual orientation, that shouldn’t have to change that.”
