Gender Justice files discrimination lawsuit against Catholic school and Archdiocese

Gender Justice, a legal policy advocacy group for LGBTQ+ Minnesotans, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Academy of Holy Angels and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, accusing them of discrimination not rehiring a librarian after she came out as trans.

Reyzl Grace MoChidhe (known as Grace) was the only librarian at Holy Angels during the 2021-2022 school year, and served in a secular staff role, Gender Justice says. She is also Jewish.

The lawsuit alleges that the school not renewing her contract because she was trans violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA).

The legal advocacy group says that while the MHRA has religious exemptions, they claim the Legislature did not intend for those exemptions to apply to staff in secular roles.

“Reyzl Grace’s story highlights the importance of ensuring that no employer in Minnesota has carte blanche to discriminate against employees simply because of who they are,” said Brittany Stewart, senior staff attorney at Gender Justice.

The school is part of the Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The Archdiocese provided this statement regarding the lawsuit:

“The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is reviewing the complaint with our legal counsel, and we are not commenting on the pending litigation now.”

The school provided this statement about the litigation:

“Academy of Holy Angels was informed earlier today of a lawsuit filed by a former employee in
Hennepin County District Court.

We take the allegations seriously. We are in the process of reviewing the allegations, but we
are not able to make further comments because the claims involve confidential personnel
matters.”

You can view the full complaint below: