The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled that a high school guidance counselor’s own actions and admissions justified a school’s decision to fire her for being in a same-sex marriage.

Shelly Fitzgerald worked as the co-Director of Guidance at Roncalli High School, a Catholic school in Indianapolis that she also attended, for 14 years. According to court findings, Fitzgerald “was, by all accounts, a good and effective employee and earned years of stellar performance reviews during her tenure.”

Despite Fitzgerald’s positive record, however, Roncalli fired her after it learned that she was married to a woman. Another guidance counselor, Lynn Starkey, was also fired around the same time for the same reason.

Both Fitzgerald and Starkey sued their former employer in separate lawsuits. Starkey lost her case last July and now, Fitzgerald’s lawsuit appears to have suffered the same fate.

The primary legal issue in Thursday’s ruling was not whether the school discriminated against Fitzgerald on the basis of her sexual orientation — the school was clear in admitting that it had indeed fired her on that basis. Rather, the question was whether the school was entitled to discriminate against LGBTQ+ employees even though federal employment law prohibits it.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that firing someone “merely for being gay or transgender” is illegal as sex-based discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, a relatively new...

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