Music, drama teacher sues Catholic HS over ‘anti-gay’ discrimination

By Jonathan Bilyk | Legal Newsline
The Center Square

A gay man who was fired from the position of music and theater director at Marquette High School in Alton has filed suit against his former employer, claiming administration at the Roman Catholic high school discriminated against him by allowing him to be subjected to anti-gay harassment, slurs and other mistreatment at the school.

Brett Klaus filed suit against Marquette Catholic High School on Jan. 7 in both federal court in the Southern District of Illinois and Madison County Circuit Court.

Klaus is represented in both cases by attorney Mark D. Schoon, of St. Louis.

He has also been represented in the actions by attorney Nabil Al-Khaled, of the firm of Thompson Coburn, of St. Louis. Al-Khaled, however, withdrew from the cases as counsel for Klaus on Jan. 9.

Both cases center around similar allegations. Both cases include accusations that Marquette High School’s alleged mistreatment of Klaus violated the Illinois Human Rights Act. The federal case, however, includes additional accusations against the Catholic high school for allegedly discriminating against him on the basis of his sexual orientation and disability under federal law.

Klaus worked at the school from 2019-2024, according to the complaint, serving as a fine arts and humanities (English) instructor and Marquette’s theater director during that time. According to the complaint, his work included directing or supporting “major school productions and school-wide events,” as well as leading a musical theater summer camp through the school.

In 2025, school administration chose not to renew his teaching contract, an act which Klaus asserted amounted to termination.

In the lawsuits, Klaus asserts that he believes he was ultimately fired for being gay. However, his lawsuits don’t directly assert his termination or contract non-renewal itself violated any anti-discrimination laws, specifically.

Such counts would likely be met with skepticism, at best, from judges, as the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that religious private schools and other religiously-affiliated organizations have the First Amendment rights to hire and fire based on employees’ religious beliefs, moral conduct, sexual orientation and other factors which may conflict with the organizations’ religious doctrines.

Courts have ruled those First Amendment religious liberty protections extend to employment decisions for teachers at religious private schools, as well.

However, in his filings, Klaus and his legal team appear to be attempting to sidestep such protections by instead accusing the school over its alleged treatment of Klaus before he was terminated.

Particularly, Klaus has accused the school of failing to take action for years allegedly despite repeated complaints from Klaus of “anti-gay and anti-trans” “harassment and intimidation” from students and staff at the high school, allegedly directed against him, for being gay, and against students in his music and theater programs.

Allegedly, these included:

– Two incidents in which Klaus’ vehicle was vandalized,

– “Anti-gay ‘pranks’;

– The use of the word “gay” as a slur by a colleague, when talking about Klaus at a “faculty gathering”; and

– Being called “f—ing evil” by a “senior administrator” at the school, among other alleged incidents.

He further asserted that in the final years of his employment at the school, administrators and colleagues retaliated against him for reporting the alleged mistreatment and “marginalized” him by reducing his class load and responsibilities, including, among other actions, making scheduling decisions “that undermined rehearsals and productions,” all of which resulted in “effectively undermining his professional role and authority.”

“Throughout Klaus’s employment, Defendant’s employees and agents … made inappropriate and hostile comments—and engaged in inappropriate and humiliating conduct— connected to Klaus’s sexual orientation,” Klaus asserted in his federal lawsuit.

According to the complaint, Klaus acknowledged his teaching contract included language prohibiting him and other teachers from “living a lifestyle inconsistent with Roman Catholic doctrine.” But he asserted that language was itself evidence of illegal discrimination, disparate treatment and marginalization.

Klaus asserted he was also subjected to “adverse employment actions and disparate treatment” after he informed school administrators of a mental health disability, for which he took medication.

According to the complaint, school administrators allegedly stated they had chosen to not renew Klaus’ contract because of “tardiness,” a justification Klaus described as “pretextual and not the true reason” for his dismissal.

Klaus is seeking a court order requiring Marquette to rehire him or, if not possible, pay him “front pay,” plus benefits.

He is also seeking unspecified compensatory damages and punitive damages in both the state and federal lawsuits.

Marquette High School has not yet responded to the lawsuits in court.

The school also did not reply to a request for comment from The Record.