Judge dismisses gays’ suit against Christian woman
The Layman Online, August 19, 1999
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A federal judge has dismissed a suit filed by two homosexuals who sued a Christian nurse for sharing her religious beliefs with them, according to a report by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ).
Jo Ann Knight, a nurse who works for the Connecticut Department of Public Health, visited the home of an AIDS patient in a suburb of New Haven, Conn. During the visit, the patient and his companion told Knight they were gay, had received little emotional support from friends and relatives, and were afraid about the future, according to the ACLJ, a rights group that represented Knight.
Knight said she felt a strong sense of compassion for the men and shared her Christian beliefs about salvation with them. She also “shared in a loving and compassionate manner her Christian beliefs that homosexuality is not an acceptable lifestyle,” said Vincent McCarthy, the ACLJ attorney who defended Knight. Both men shared their religious beliefs with Knight, thanked her, and bid her a good afternoon, McCarthy said.
Emotional distress claimed
But the men, Kenneth Johnson and Byron Benton, later sued Knight in federal court, claiming they suffered emotional distress from her statements, which they said constituted harassment.
U.S. District Court Judge Dominic Squatrito dismissed the suit Aug. 10, upholding the First Amendment rights of Knight to speak out on her religious beliefs.
Knight’s comments were “an appropriate expression of her religious beliefs,” McCarthy said. Knight did not act in “an aggressive, harassing, threatening, or intimidating manner toward either the patient or his companion. In fact the opposite is true,” he said.
A federal lawsuit brought by Knight against the Connecticut Department of Public Health for reprimanding her, suspending her for two weeks without pay, and barring her from visiting patients at home is pending.