The Minnesota Supreme Court will decide if a former employee of a Catholic high school can move forward with a lawsuit against the school and the Archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis after the employee was not re-hired after coming out as transgender to school officials.

Reyzl Grace MoChridhe, who worked as a librarian at the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, Minnesota, told the school about plans to transition genders for the following year, reported MPR News. MoChridhe says that school administrators said they would not re-hire him for the next school year if he transitioned genders.

MoChridhe’s contract was not renewed. MoChridhe filed suit against the school and archdiocese in 2024, saying that their actions had violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

As of 2026, MoChridhe identifies as a transgender woman.

While the Academy of Holy Angels is a Catholic school, MoChridhe said the role of librarian was secular in nature and did not require adherence to Catholic theology. To support this claim, MoChridhe stated that he is Jewish, and informed the school about this during the hiring process.

The Archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis says that the school had every right to not re-hire MoChridhe, and that the school’s actions were covered under religious exemptions to the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Lower courts agreed with the archdiocese, but MoChridhe appealed to the state’s Supreme Court. MoChridhe is requesting monetary damages as well as a civil penalty for both the school and the archdiocese.

Arguments in the case were heard on Tuesday, September 1.

Luke Goodrich, senior counsel at Becket an attorney for the Archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis, told the Catholic Herald that he believes the school acted appropriately.

“Religious schools have the freedom to hire employees who share and uphold their religious values. The Minnesota Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court have reaffirmed that common-sense principle many times over," he said.

Goodrich continued: "We look forward to another ruling affirming that the Catholic Church has the freedom to run Catholic schools according to Catholic values.”

This piece has been updated to include comment from the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.