CNA explains: When can Catholic employers fire employees for not following the Church?

A New Jersey teacher’s dismissal from her Catholic school classroom over her role as a surrogate mother has raised the question of just when Catholic employers can dismiss workers for not adhering to the faith.

The teacher, Jadira Bonilla, was put on paid administrative leave after school officials discovered that she had agreed to serve as a surrogate for another couple. She told a Philadelphia news station that she had previously served as a surrogate for the same couple without incident while working at another Catholic school.

Administrators at St. Mary Catholic School in Vineland “said I was possibly in violation of my contract and that I would be suspended or placed on administrative leave,” the teacher told the news outlet.

Bonilla “is a valued teacher and one we hope will one day again teach in our school with the full knowledge of our faith, which guides our educational principles,” the school told the media in a statement.

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