Fired gay Ohio teacher: Union won’t back complaint

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — A gay teacher challenging her firing by an Ohio Catholic school says the local union for Catholic educators isn’t defending her.

Carla Hale said Monday the grievance committee for the Central Ohio Association of Catholic Educators isn’t supporting her efforts to get back her job as a physical-education teacher. The association hasn’t returned telephone calls seeking comment.

Hale also filed a complaint with the city of Columbus, which prohibits firings based on sexual orientation.

Hale says she was fired from Bishop Watterson High School after her partner’s name was revealed in her mother’s published obituary and someone complained.

Bishop Frederick Campbell says Hale wasn’t fired because of her sexual orientation but because she violated the church’s moral teaching by having what he describes as a “quasi-spousal relationship” with a woman.