Bona Fide Occupational Discrimination Case Study

A common BFOQ or bona fide occupational qualification that can be argued as a reason for discrimination by an employer of a protected class is on the basis of religion. There are many religious schools across the U.S. that hire employees that need to follow their religion and abide by moral codes. The employees usually sign a contract that binds them to these moral codes and therefore they know that they can be fired if they fail to follow these rules. The case I chose is about a woman named Christa Diaz who was a teacher that was fired for becoming pregnant and being unwed, she was not abiding by the Catholic rules set forth and she was no longer considered a good role model to her students. There have been other cases that resemble that of Dias, and her case was one to set the bar of how to respond to this situation and how the courts should decide their future rulings.
The Case: Christa Dias vs Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati Christa Dias was a teacher for two schools in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati when she was suddenly fired. It was back in 2010 when Dias, who happened to be Christian, unwed, and a homosexual, went through artificial insemination in order to become pregnant. Dias and her partner were trying to start a family unsuspecting to the fact that it went against Catholic beliefs. When her
Although the schools were not found liable for damages, Dias was awarded around $170,000 in compensatory damages, back pay, and punitive fines (CBS, 2013). This case is just one of many where schools are repeatedly firing women who become pregnant out of wedlock. It seems like schools are trying to push the boundaries of the ministerial, religious exemptions and BFOQs in order to justify their firing decisions. This however, is to no avail as it seems that they will never be able to equally enforce religious