The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has reaffirmed the right of a Catholic school to employ only teachers who live according to the moral teachings of the Catholic Church.

In a unanimous judgment, the court affirmed that the Diocese of Charlotte was well within its rights to fire Lonnie Billard, a former English and drama teacher at Charlotte Catholic High School who was living in a same-sex relationship, in violation of Catholic moral teaching. Billard’s employment at the school had been conditional on an agreement to uphold Catholic teaching.