From the New York Daily News:
Transgender teacher’s suit against Catholic school gets green light
Marla Kralikowski's wrongful termination lawsuit against St. Francis Preparatory School was given the green light by a Queens judge. She claims she was fired for her sexual orientation after 32 years of teaching, but the school claims it was due to her 'insubordination.'
It was a bait and gender-switch.
A transgender teacher's lawsuit against the Catholic school that canned her after she started dressing as a woman has been given the green light by a Queens judge.
At a court hearing earlier this week, Judge Duane Hart said he was skeptical of the St.
Francis Preparatory School's claim that Marla Kralikowski's was fired for insubordination - and not because she used to be known as Mark.
"Insubordination after 32 years of teaching? And the insubordination seems to coincide with the expression of being transgender?" WABC News quoted Hart as saying at a Monday hearing.
He denied the Fresh Meadows school's bid to toss the case on religious grounds.
Kralikowski was the school's longtime religious teacher. The lawsuit says he was "beloved" by his students and "constantly received the highest ratings in his evaluations."
In 2007, the suit said, Kralikowski began to "wear multiple earrings, kept his hair shoulder-length and manicured his nails in a feminine style."
The religion teacher had kept wearing a suit and tie to work - but a parent still complained to the school about Kralikowski's appearance in 2011, the suit said.
The suit says the teacher told his bosses he was transgender, and one of them replied that that was "worse than gay."
She was then told to "tone down" her appearance, which she says she did. But in June of 2012, Kralikowski was told she hadn't done "enough," and was being let go for being insubordinate.
Her suit charged the school with discrimination, but the school countered that the courts shouldn't have a say about who its religious teacher is.
A rep for the school declined comment. The school's lawyer, Philip Semprevivo, told the Daily News on Wednesday that they would fight on.
"The school feels very strongly about its position that the court does not have the power to make the decision of who it hires or retains," he said.
He maintained that the firing had nothing to do with Kralikowski being transgender, and everything to do with him being uncooperative during a school investigation.
"He was not forthcoming in a school investigation about his behavior," Semprevivo said.
Kralikowski's lawyer did not return a call for comment.
