LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
Catholic Discrimination
This is a settlement for the Discrimination lawsuit.
Honolulu, HI: (Apr-24-08) The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission brought a lawsuit against the Holy Family Catholic Academy, a Catholic school, alleging that it wrongly fired a former bookkeeper after she complained of discrimination by a priest and her supervisor. The suit, filed on behalf of Roxanne Castilliano, claimed that the Rev. Owen Mullen and Paul Bishay, her supervisor, retaliated against her after she complained of derogatory comments made by them.
Allegedly, the two men made derogatory comments of her national origin as a Filipina and gender in 2003, as well as about her looks and culture. The suit stated that when Castilliano complained through the school's chain of command, the commission said she was scrutinized for her work performance and terminated in February 2004. Castilliano worked at the school for 10 years before she was fired. The heart of the case was retaliation as the school failed to investigate the matter and did not have mechanisms in place to comply with Title VII, which prohibits discrimination at any level. Mullen was a retired military chaplain when he served as administrator at Holy Family in 2003. He was not a member of the Honolulu Catholic Diocese. School sources stated that in 2004, Mullen moved to CA to serve as an associate minister for the University of San Diego, an institution he had earlier served at during the 1980s.
As part of a settlement reached in the case, the school agreed to pay $100,000 to resolve allegations. [STAR BULLETIN: SCHOOL AND EX-WORKER AGREE TO SETTLEMENT]
Published on Apr-27-08
Allegedly, the two men made derogatory comments of her national origin as a Filipina and gender in 2003, as well as about her looks and culture. The suit stated that when Castilliano complained through the school's chain of command, the commission said she was scrutinized for her work performance and terminated in February 2004. Castilliano worked at the school for 10 years before she was fired. The heart of the case was retaliation as the school failed to investigate the matter and did not have mechanisms in place to comply with Title VII, which prohibits discrimination at any level. Mullen was a retired military chaplain when he served as administrator at Holy Family in 2003. He was not a member of the Honolulu Catholic Diocese. School sources stated that in 2004, Mullen moved to CA to serve as an associate minister for the University of San Diego, an institution he had earlier served at during the 1980s.
As part of a settlement reached in the case, the school agreed to pay $100,000 to resolve allegations. [
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