Wedding Announcement Costs Lesbian Her Job

Laine Tadlock lost her job at a Catholic university—not because she’s gay, not because she married a woman, but because she published a wedding announcement. Tadlock says Illinois’ Benedictine University knew about her sexual orientation when she was hired, and that the university also knew about her trip to Iowa, where gay marriage is legal, to marry her partner this summer. The problem arose when the State Journal-Register published the couple’s wedding announcement, which mentioned Tadlock’s employment at the university.

The university president, after a complaint from a Catholic activist about the announcement, claimed in a letter that Tadlock “significantly disregarded and flouted core religious beliefs which, as a Catholic institution, it is our mission to uphold.” She was offered early retirement and a reassignment and refused both; she ultimately left her director position Oct. 28—the university claims she resigned; she denies it. The university employee handbook does state an “equal employment opportunity” policy “without discrimination on the basis of … sexual orientation,” the Journal-Register notes.
(More gay marriage stories.)