New Jersey Supreme Court rules in favor of Catholic school that fired  second grade art teacher Victoria Crisitello for having premarital sex after she got pregnant outside of wedlock

The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a Catholic school that has fired a second-grade art school teacher for out-of-wedlock after a decade-long legal battle.

Victoria Crisitello, 45, was fired from her role as a teacher and preschool caregiver at St. Theresa School in Kenilworth, NJ, for “violating the principles of the Catholic faith” by having premarital sex in 2014.

A former student of the private institution, Crisitello, of Toms River, began teaching part-time there in 2011.

Her troubles began about three years into her tenure, when the then principal, Sister Lee, approached her about a full-time teaching job.

During their meeting, Crisitello said she wanted a raise if she accepted the new role, revealing she was pregnant and it would be difficult to work extra hours, according to a summary written by Judge Solomon.

“A few weeks later, Sister Lee told Crisitello that she had violated the code of ethics by having premarital sex and could not remain on the St. Theresa staff,” the court document reads.

The stunned teacher filed a complaint alleging discrimination based on pregnancy and marital status, sparking a case that would become a 10-year legal battle.

Crisitello pinned her hopes on New Jersey law against discrimination (LAD)which prohibits unfavorable treatment based on a person’s gender – including pregnancy – family status, religion or domestic partnership status.

However, this law provides an exception for employers who are also religious organizations, giving them the right to “follow the principles of their religion in establishing and using criteria for employment.”

“Such employers may use religious affiliation as a job requirement in the employment of clergy, religious teachers or other employees involved in the association or organization’s religious activities,” the law states.

On Monday, the judges ruled that this exception allowed St. Theresa’s to “require its employees to abide by Catholic law, including abstaining from premarital sex,” Judge Solomon said.

They believed that since there was “no suggestion that Crisitello had been fired per se because of her pregnancy or marital status,” her dismissal was based on her “violation of the teachings of the Catholic Church.”

The court said Crisitello, who is described in court documents as a “practicing Catholic,” broke the code of ethics she signed when she was hired by the school, which requires staff to abide by the religion’s rules.

Peter Verniero, a lawyer representing the school, said he was “glad” that the Supreme Court had upheld “the rights of religious employers to act in accordance with their religious teachings” and ruled in favor of the school.

“Equally important, the Court found no evidence of discrimination in this case,” he added.

“This is an important affirmation of St. Theresa School’s rights as a religious employer.”

A spokesperson for the New Jersey Attorney General’s office said the decision was disappointing, but officials were pleased that the “narrow scope” will not affect the LAD’s important protections for “the vast majority of residents.” of New Jersey’.

Crisitello’s claim has divided legal opinion over the past decade, with it twice rejected by state court judges before being resurrected by the state’s appeals department, which overturned both decisions.

In the first reversal in 2018, the panel found that Crisitello’s evidence showing she had been treated unfairly compared to other teachers at the school who may also have had premarital sex had not been properly investigated.

Crisitello’s lawyer wanted to discuss whether male teachers had been fired for premarital sex – and thus whether his client had been singled out solely because of her pregnancy.

But judges ruled that her dismissal was based on the religious code because there was “significant evidence” that “St. Theresa’s supports her married teachers who become pregnant’.

They added that another Catholic school, also within the Archdiocese of Newark, “fired an unmarried male teacher after revealing that his girlfriend was pregnant with their child.”

However, this isn’t the first time St. Theresa School, located in the Archdiocese of Newark, has made controversial headlines.

In 2017, it prevented two female students from re-enrolling after their parents sued the school to get one of their daughters on the boys’ basketball team because there weren’t enough female students to play on a girls’ team.

St. Theresa’s rejected applications for September of that year from 13-year-old Sydney Phillips and her younger sister, Kaitlyn.

This came after their family sued the school and the archdiocese in December 2016 when school officials said Sydney could not play on a boys’ basketball team.

Sydney was a star player on the girls’ team and pushed to play with the boys’ team, but archdiocese officials said competition rules prevented her from doing so.

Initially, a judge ruled in favor of the school, stating that there was no legal right for it to play basketball.

The school subsequently expelled Sydney and her sister as a result of the lawsuit until the family received an emergency injunction from an appellate court that ordered that the girls be allowed to return until a full court hearing.

But after the full hearing, Judge Donald A Kessler ruled that the court “has no authority to interfere” with the school’s decision, according to NJ. com.

Kessler said their eviction was a “church decision” and their family could not “interfere.”