NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – A teacher is suing a Queens Catholic school and the Diocese of Brooklyn, claiming he was fired for being married to a man.
The New York Post reported that Todd Simons, 45, filed the lawsuit in Brooklyn Federal Court.
In the suit, Simons said he felt “disrespected and discarded” after he was fired from Our Lady’s Catholic Academy in South Ozone Park in October 2018.
Simons claimed he was abruptly let go after entering his husband’s name on an online form while checking on employer-provided health insurance.
A week after he used the form, he was summoned to a meeting with the school’s principal and a parish priest, who asked if he was “legally married on paper” to a man, according to the suit.
After saying that he was married to a man, he was fired a short time later, the suit alleged.
Simons’ lawyer, Allegra L. Fishel, said her client was protected by state and federal civil rights law.
The school and the diocese hadn’t responded to a request for comment from the Post.