News
2005-10-14
Expelled gay
student's case heads to Florida supreme court
A student's
lawsuit alleging that he was expelled from his Christian
high school after telling a chaplain he is gay
A student's
lawsuit alleging that he was expelled from his Christian
high school after telling a chaplain he is gay is
headed for Florida's supreme court. A divided fourth
district court of appeal asked the high court
Wednesday to decide if the chaplain should have protected
Jeffrey Woodard's confidentiality during their 2003
conversation.
Whether Woodard
and his mother, Carol Gload, can seek damages from
Jupiter Christian School depends on whether the school
chaplain, in whom he confided, can be sued for
inflicting emotional distress, according to an opinion
written by Judge Melanie May. The state supreme court has
never ruled on whether clergy must protect a person's
confidentiality, as do attorneys and psychologists,
May wrote in Wednesday's ruling.
Woodard, now 20,
sued the school for breach of contract after being
expelled three days into his senior year. Woodard claims the
chaplain pulled him out of Bible class and asked him
in confidence if he was gay. When Woodard answered
yes, a school official called his mother and told her
Woodard could not attend an upcoming school retreat unless
he and his mother met with the school to talk about
Woodard's sexual orientation, according to the
lawsuit.
Gload has said
the school told them Woodard could either get counseling
for his "problem," voluntarily withdraw from the school, or
be expelled. "I didn't think Jeffrey needed therapy,"
Gload said in 2003. When she told that to school
officials, they expelled her son, she said.
School officials
said Woodard was expelled for violating school policy
when he talked to other students about his sexual
orientation. In 2003 the school issued a statement on
its Web site saying homosexuality "is a lifestyle we
believe is not in accord with the biblical values we
teach our children." The statement went on to say the school
thinks homosexuality is "a form of sexual immorality." (AP)
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