Gay Music Director Loses Lawsuit Claiming Church, Chicago Archdiocese Wrongly Fired Him

INVERNESS, IL — A federal judge ruled against a gay church music director who claimed he was unfairly fired by an Inverness parish and Archdiocese of Chicago after annoucing his wedding engagement in 2014, the Daily Herald reports. The lawsuit by Colin Collette claimed the archdiocese and Holy Family Catholic Community Church violated the federal Civil Rights Act, the Illinois Human Rights Act and the Cook County Human Rights Ordinance by firing him from his position in July 2014, the report stated. But US District Judge Charles P. Kocoras rejected that argument in his summary judgment, saying the US Supreme Court has upheld the right of religious groups to "control their own affairs," the report added.

"This right includes the freedom to 'decide for themselves, free from state interference, matters of church government as well as those of faith and doctrine'," Kocoras wrote in his April 18 decision. "Matters of church government include the right of churches to select their own leaders." (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest Palatine news. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

At issue in the case was whether Collette, who had worked at Holy Family for 17 years, was a "key ministerial employee," something the former music director disputed, the report stated. Kocoras, however, disagreed, claiming that Collette's duties included helping the church celebrate Mass, the report added.

In his lawsuit filed in March 2016, Collette claimed Holy Family and the archdiocese terminated him after he announced he was engaged to his partner over Facebook, the report stated. He cited a letter by the late Cardinal Francis George published in the church's bulletin in October 2014 that said Collette was fired because he was part of a "union that cannot be recognized as a sacrament," the report added. But because Collette's role wasn't ministerial, the religious groups couldn't dismiss him for the reasons stated, according to the Herald.

If his federal lawsuit was successful, Collette was asking to be hired back as Holy Family's music director, and he was seeking back pay, as well as damages, the Herald reports.

More via the Daily Herald

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