The former assistant director for music and worship for Campus Ministry filed a civil lawsuit on Oct. 11 against St. Joe’s for discrimination based on sexual orientation according to a federal court filing.
Noel Koenke, who identifies as a lesbian, filed five counts of Title IX violations against St. Joe’s. Koenke is seeking compensation for medical expenses that occurred during her time at St. Joe’s, as well as the development of more protective policies for the LGBTQIA+ community on campus, according to the complaint filed in federal court.
Koenke was hired as coordinator for liturgy and music in 2010, and worked at St. Joe’s until 2017, where she unexpectedly left after being promoted to director for music and worship.
Despite receiving high performance evaluations, Koenke was pressured into hiding her sexual identity from the St. Joe’s community.
Koenke claimed that this was a form of sex discrimination according to the complaint.
“[Koenke] felt not only that she could not be fully open at work, but also that she could not always be fully open outside of work about [Koenke’s] employment, or relationship with and upcoming marriage to a person of the same sex (female), to be consistent with the University’s request,” the complaint alleged.
According to the complaint, specifically, on July 22, 2013, Koenke’s supervisor asked her to hide her sexual orientation, which included altering her Facebook account. Although Koenke filed a formal written complaint to the Office of Human Resources on July 23, 2013, she was told by a representative that what she was experiencing was not discrimination, according to the complaint.
Around Aug 11, 2013, Koenke attempted suicide, partly due to job stress, which she listed as an official trigger in her medical file, her complaint alleged.
“[Koenke] was seriously damaged by the harassment and abuse [Koenke] experienced in being required to remain closeted or hide [Koenke’s] relationship with and upcoming marriage to a person of the same sex (female), for fear of the negative consequences or repercussions if [Koenke] was suspected or found out,” the complaint states.
Eventually, Koenke felt she had no choice but to resign due to the mental stress caused by working at St. Joe’s, according to the complaint.
On Nov 15, 2017, Koenke met with two supervisors who she said gave her three options regarding her employment moving forward.
First, Koenke could continue to work at St. Joe’s under the same conditions, or leave St. Joe’s without any severance or receive a severance package of $17,800 and sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA), according to the report.
According to the complaint, Knoenke did not sign the NDA, but instead decided to leave her job without the severance package.
“[Koenke] is pursuing the instant case to ensure that no other employee in the future is subjected to hateful harassment and abuse like [Koenke] was subjected to in this case,” according to the report.
