CINCINNATI, June 4 (UPI) -- A federal jury has decided the Archdiocese of Cincinnati must pay a former teacher $171,000 for improperly firing her after she became pregnant.
Christa Dias, 34, was a computer teacher at two of the archdiocese's schools in 2010 when she told officials she needed maternity leave, the Cincinnati Post said.
The unmarried teacher had become pregnant by artificial insemination, and the archdiocese fired her for violating Catholic teachings.
During the case, the archdiocese argued her employment contract detailed that she must live within Catholic teachings, the Post said.
In response, Dias' attorneys said she wasn't a ministerial employee who taught religion or Catholicism.
The jury agreed with her Monday after deliberating for about eight hours, the Post said, and awarded her punitive damages of $100,000 and compensatory damages of $71,000.
Dias' attorneys had asked the jury to award her $637,000.
"I was relieved. It's been a very, very long road," Dias told the Post after the verdict before U.S. District Court Judge Susan Dlott. "Now, I can go on with my life."
The archdiocese changed its employment contracts in August to specify who is a ministerial employee, a spokesman said.
