Lawsuit by booted Eastern Michigan student who refused to counsel gay client settled for $75K

Julea Ward expelled from counseling program after asking not to have gay client

Published On: Dec 11 2012 06:31:29 AM EST
Eastern Michigan University Logo
YPSILANTI, Mich. -

A lawsuit filed by a woman who contends she was kicked out of a master's degree program at Eastern Michigan University because of her opposition to homosexuality has been settled for $75,000.

The Ypsilanti school announced the settlement Monday with Julea Ward, saying it leaves Eastern Michigan's policies and programs intact.

Ward's lawyer Jeremy Tedesco tells AnnArbor.com he feels Ward's constitutionally protected rights have been "vindicated."

A federal appeals court revived Ward's lawsuit this year. She was in a counseling program at the university when she asked her superiors to refer a gay client to someone else. She says she told professors that her Christian faith prohibited her from affirming homosexual behavior.

The university expelled Ward from the program, although she was just a few classes short of a degree.

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