Billard v. Charlotte Catholic High School (U.S.C.A. 4th Circuit, 2022)

Lonnie Billard, a former drama teacher and substitute teacher at Charlotte Catholic High School, was fired after posting on Facebook that he was planning to marry a man. ADL joined 47 organizations committed to gender justice and LGBTQ+ rights in an amicus brief supporting Mr. Billard. The brief, filed before the Fourth Circuit, was led by the National Women’s Law Center. It points out that Title VII provides necessary workplace civil rights protections for nearly one million employees of religious employers, including against sex discrimination. It argues that improperly expanding the limited exceptions that Congress created in Title VII would undermine the crucial protections that Congress sought to safeguard, leaving many workers vulnerable to wholesale employment discrimination based on sex — including sexual orientation or gender identity — or any other basis. The brief further explains the harms that would result if the school’s arguments were accepted, including any aspect of an employee’s life being reinterpreted as violating an employer’s religious views.