When Matthew Barrett applied to be Fontbonne Academy’s food services director, he wasn’t looking to set an historic precedent in civil rights law. But that’s exactly what he did when he was hired then fired two days for disclosing his marriage to a husband and not a wife.
Thanks to the efforts of Gay Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and the perseverance of Barrett and his husband, a Massachusetts Superior Court judge has ruled that Fontbonne Academy, a Catholic girls’ high school, discriminated against Barrett on the basis of sexual orientation and gender when it rescinded its job offer to Barrett.
In this first-of-its-kind decision, the court ruled that Fontbonne had clearly and directly violated the Massachusetts nondiscrimination law; was not exempt from the law; and had no constitutional defenses against its discriminatory conduct.
You can read the whole story in the January/February 2016 issue of Boston Spirit magazine. But while you’re waiting, here’s what GLAD has to say about its recent civil rights victory:
The case, Barrett v. Fontbonne Academy, brought by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), seeks to enforce the nondiscrimination laws that are vitally important to our civil society and to push back against attempts by religiously-affiliated institutions to expand their ability to free themselves from the obligations of the nondiscrimination laws.
“Religiously-affiliated organizations do not get a free pass to discriminate against gay and lesbian people,” said Bennett Klein, GLAD Senior Attorney. “When Fontbonne fired Matt from a job that has nothing to do with religion, and simply because he is married, they came down on the wrong side of the law.”
“I’m ecstatic,” said Barrett. “What happened to me was wrong, and I truly hope it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
In rejecting Fontbonne’s constitutional claims asserting rights of free exercise of religion and expressive association, Associate Justice Douglas H. Wilkins wrote, “The state has a compelling interest in prohibiting discrimination against historically disadvantaged people,” citing cases from the U.S. Supreme Court addressing race and sex discrimination. He continued, “That interest is rarely stronger than in the employment context…”
Barrett was born and raised in a Catholic family. He has worked in the food services industry for 20 years, and lives in Dorchester with his husband Ed Suplee.
The next step in the case will be a hearing on damages.
In addition to Klein, Barrett is represented by GLAD attorney Gary Buseck and GLAD’s founder, John Ward.
