Marquette Catholic High School, Alton, Illinois
ALTON — A federal judge is allowing a gay man who was fired from his position of music and theater director at Marquette High School to continue suing the Catholic school for allegedly discriminating against him by allegedly allowing him to be subjected to anti-gay harassment, slurs and other alleged mistreatment at the school, allegedly leading to his termination.
On Oct. 30, U.S. District Judge Staci Yandle rejected the attempt by Marquette Catholic High School to dismiss the lawsuit lodged by plaintiff Brett Klaus or to send the case from Southern Illinois' federal district court to Madison County Circuit Court instead.
Yandle, however, said the case can continue and that it should remain in her court, despite an earlier attempt by Klaus to also sue the school in Madison County's state courts in seeming parallel litigation.
Yandle did not rule on any constitutional questions related to First Amendment religious freedom protections for the school in employment matters.
Klaus had filed suit against the school in early January, filing nearly identical claims in both federal district court and in Madison County Circuit Court.
Klaus was represented in both cases by attorney Mark D. Schoon, of St. Louis.
The lawsuits both accused Marquette High School over its alleged mistreatment of Klaus, allegedly in violation of the Illinois Human Rights Act. The federal case, however, included additional accusations against the Catholic high school for allegedly discriminating against him on the basis of his sexual orientation and disability under federal law.
Klaus worked at the school from 2019-2024, according to the complaint, serving as a fine arts and humanities (English) instructor and Marquette's theater director during that time. According to the complaint, his work included directing or supporting "major school productions and school-wide events," as well as leading a musical theater summer camp through the school.
In 2025, school administration chose not to renew his teaching contract, an act which Klaus asserted amounted to termination.
In his lawsuit, Klaus asserts that he believes he was ultimately fired for being gay. However, his lawsuits don't directly assert his termination or contract non-renewal itself violated any anti-discrimination laws, specifically.
Such counts would likely be met with skepticism, at best, from judges, as the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that religious private schools and other religiously-affiliated organizations have the First Amendment right to hire and fire based on employees' religious beliefs, moral conduct, sexual orientation and other factors which may conflict with the organizations' religious doctrines.
Courts have ruled those First Amendment religious liberty protections extend to employment decisions for teachers at religious private schools, as well.
However, in his lawsuit, Klaus and his legal team appear to be attempting to sidestep such protections by instead accusing the school over its alleged treatment of Klaus before he was terminated.
Particularly, Klaus has accused the school of failing to take action for years allegedly despite repeated complaints from Klaus of "anti-gay and anti-trans" "harassment and intimidation" from students and staff at the high school, allegedly directed against him, for being gay, and against students in his music and theater programs.
Allegedly, these included:
- Two incidents in which Klaus' vehicle was vandalized,
- "Anti-gay 'pranks';
- The use of the word "gay" as a slur by a colleague, when talking about Klaus at a "faculty gathering"; and
- Being called "f---ing evil" by a "senior administrator" at the school, among other alleged incidents.
He further asserted that in the final years of his employment at the school, administrators and colleagues retaliated against him for reporting the alleged mistreatment and "marginalized" him by reducing his class load and responsibilities, including, among other actions, making scheduling decisions "that undermined rehearsals and productions," all of which resulted in "effectively undermining his professional role and authority."
According to the complaint, Klaus acknowledged his teaching contract included language prohibiting him and other teachers from "living a lifestyle inconsistent with Roman Catholic doctrine." But he asserted that language was itself evidence of illegal discrimination, disparate treatment and marginalization.
Klaus asserted he was also subjected to "adverse employment actions and disparate treatment" after he informed school administrators of a mental health disability, for which he took medication.
According to the complaint, school administrators allegedly stated they had chosen to not renew Klaus' contract because of "tardiness," a justification Klaus described as "pretextual and not the true reason" for his dismissal.
Klaus is seeking a court order requiring Marquette to rehire him or, if not possible, pay him "front pay," plus benefits.
Klaus voluntarily withdrew his Madison County state court lawsuit in May and that case is dismissed.
Klaus' lawyer has said in federal court filings that Klaus never intended to prosecute his claims in state court. Rather, that lawsuit, they said, was filed to satisfy certain legal requirements to allow him to move forward with his federal lawsuit after he received a required notice from the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission clearing him to sue his former employer.
Once that was in hand, they said, Klaus ended the state court action.
In response, Marquette filed a motion to dismiss, claiming Klaus' dueling court filings show the claims were improperly lodged. At a minimum, the school argued Klaus should be forced to limit himself to his state law claims in Madison County Circuit Court.
They asserted the duplicate lawsuits amount to improper "forum shopping," a legal strategy in which plaintiffs seek to land their lawsuit before a preferred judge or in a preferred court.
Yandle, however, said she believed the case was properly filed in federal court. And since the case is distinct from the one filed and withdrawn in Madison County, Yandle agreed with Klaus that there is no case to "remand" to the state court.
Marquette is represented in the case by attorney Bryan A. Dooling, of the firm of MillerKing LLC, of Alton.
