Discrimination Claim Against Archdiocese put Before U.S. Court of Appeals
Attorneys for former Catholic church music director Sandor Demkovich appeared Tuesday in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in oral arguments against the Archdiocese of Chicago and St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, Calumet City.
Kristina Buchthal Alkass of Schaumburg-based Lavelle Law argued before a three-judge panel, answering questions about whether the federal appeals court should allow Mr. Demkovich's claims of harassment and hostile work environment to proceed. Demkovich, who is gay, filed suit in December of 2016, after he was terminated from his job as a music director at St. Andrew when he married his longtime partner in 2014.
The suit alleges that Demkovich was subjected to harassment and a hostile work environment based on sex, sexual orientation, marital status, and disability while he was employed as music director between 2012 and 2014 at St. Andrew.
On September 30, 2018, Judge Edmund Chang in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled that Mr. Demkovich's claims for hostile work environment and harassment as to his disability could proceed. But Chang dismissed Mr. Demkovich's harassment and hostile work environment claims as to sex, sexual orientation and marital status. The Archdiocese appealed that order to the federal appeals court, claiming that the litigation infringes on the church's constitutional rights under the First Amendment.
The Seventh Circuit panel must now determine whether Demkovich's rights under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans With Disabilities Act should be prioritized over the Archdiocese's right to exercise its religious beliefs without the scrutiny of the courts.
"We are grateful the Court gave us the opportunity to present Mr. Demkovich's arguments today," said Buchthal Alkass after appearing before the panel. "We hope now that the Court of Appeals affirms the District Court's ruling as to Mr. Demkovich's disability claims and allows those claims as well as Mr. Demkovich's claims regarding sex, sexual orientation and marital status to proceed."
The appeals court has not given a date for its ruling.
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