Two New Wrongful Termination Cases Focus on Religious Discrimination

Over the past few weeks, sources reported on two new wrongful termination cases that focus on religious discrimination issues. The first case involves a trans librarian who was terminated by a Catholic school. The second case involves a male prison chaplain who was fired after refusing to train a woman to do his job. Both of these cases raise important issues about free speech, the Constitution, and religious rights in the United States. 

Trans Librarian Fails to Appeal Wrongful Termination

In December of 2025, CBS News reported that a trans librarian had failed to convince an appellate court that her termination was discriminatory. The Minnesota Court of Appeals found that her termination was lawful. 

The case stems from an incident in 2022. At this point in time, a Catholic school and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis refused to renew the plaintiff’s contract after she revealed to the school that she was transgender. 

In 2024, she decided to sue the Archdiocese and the school. The Archdiocese immediately sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, and the court did so. A judge explained this initial decision by pointing to the guarantees of religious freedom provided by the United States and Minnesota Constitutions. 

The plaintiff had previously argued that her termination represented a violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act, claiming that the decision was based entirely on her gender and sexuality. She also argued that her position as a librarian was completely secular and non-religious, so her trans identity should not have led to a termination based on religious grounds. 

The appellate court disagreed, effectively finding that the religious freedom guarantees of the Constitution outweighed the state Human Rights Act. The plaintiff’s counsel tried to argue that this was an “overly broad” interpretation of the Constitution, but these arguments fell on deaf ears. Specifically, the court determined that if they were to force a Catholic church to employ trans people, this would represent an unacceptable level of government interference in religious affairs. 

Florida Man Fired for Refusing to Train a Woman to Do His Job

Also in December, the Tallahassee Democrat reported that a male prison chaplain had sued the state government after what he believed was a wrongful termination. The man’s employer asked him to train a female employee to act as a prison chaplain, and he refused on religious grounds. The man claims that according to his religious beliefs, women should not “minister” to men. He did not disclose his specific faith, although this is a common belief among certain Christian groups. 

The plaintiff claims that when he refused to teach the female chaplain to perform her role, he was exercising his First Amendment rights under the Constitution. This lawsuit comes just weeks after a general move in Florida to push back against alleged anti-Christian discrimination across various workplaces. This could mark the beginning of many similar cases across the Sunshine State. 

Like the other case, this lawsuit involves a conflict between religious discrimination and gender discrimination. Does religious discrimination now take precedence over gender discrimination in the United States?

Continue Reading the Universal Life Church’s Blog

Each month, various cases test the nature of religious rights in this country. While the basis for many religious rights is the United States Constitution, there are still countless cases that question the exact nature of these rights. The Universal Life Church’s blog is focused on documenting the most noteworthy of these cases in an objective manner that can be easily understood by readers.