Laine Tadlock Says She Was Fired From Benedictine Catholic University Because Marriage Announcement Outed Her; School Says She Was Not Fired But Chose To Leave; Says Issue Is Not Her Homosexuality But Newspaper Stated Where She Worked

Laine Tadlock says she was fired from her position as director of the educational program at Benedictine University, a private Catholic Illinois school, after a wedding announcement was published last summer in the Springfield State Journal-Register regarding the marriage of Tadlock to her partner, Kae Helstrom, the two marrying in Iowa after the state Supreme Court ruled a same sex marriage ban to be unconstitutional. The school, however, disagrees, releasing a statement Thursday that tells a different tale. After her story appeared in the same newspaper Wednesday, the school says it received several e-mails demanding Tadlock be reinstated and that the school offer a formal apology. Today, the school, which says it keeps confidential personal issues, said “The university, for valid and lawful reasons, decided that it would not be consistent with the university’s mission as a Catholic institution of higher learning for Tadlock to continue in the office of program director of its educational program.” The statement adds that Tadlock was in fact offered a different position at Benedictine, and that she refused believing she lacked the qualifications for the job. The school insisted she was qualified and warned her that if she did not take the position, the university would consider that to serve as notice of resignation. The university president, William Carroll, said that her homosexuality was not the issue, nor was her marriage, but that the announcement in the paper called attention to the fact she worked for Benedictine.