Augsburg seeks to dismiss lawsuit after firing lesbian professor disliked by homophobic donors

MINNEAPOLIS – Augsburg University seeks to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a former professor who says the school fired her because she’s a lesbian.

The case, brought by Kristina Boerger, alleges in her lawsuit filed Oct. 10, that the university and its president, Paul Pribbenow, engaged in a years long harassment campaign against Boerger, eventually replacing her with a younger, white, heterosexual male with Protestant church choir experience.

In arguments before District Judge Thomas Conley in a Hennepin County courtroom Thursday, attorneys sparred over the university’s right to fire a secular employee because she was gay and even if the lawsuit is constitutionally allowed.

Lauren Weber, representing Augsburg, told Conley Thursday that the church autonomy doctrine barred Boerger’s discrimination claim because Boerger alleges that her termination was religiously motivated, something Boerger and her lawyers dispute.

The church autonomy doctrine is an archaic holdover of America’s Puritan founding, which protects a religious institution's bigotry in matters related to internal governance or employment under the First Amendment.

Weber, of Felhaber Larson, said in court that Boerger’s complaint has “contradictory statements” about the school’s connection to the Lutheran church and frames her claims as those alleging religious discrimination.

Lukas Boehning, who represented Boerger in Thursday’s hearing, said Weber and the university mischaracterized Boerger’s complaint.

“(The amended complaint) pleads a straightforward case of discrimination and fraudulent inducement arising from Augsburg University’s decision to abandon its publicly professed commitment to nondiscrimination in order to appease donors and other institutional stakeholders with discriminatory views. Nothing in the pleading places this case within the narrow constitutional protections defendants attempt to invoke,” according to Boerger’s response to the university’s motion to dismiss the case.

Boehning, of Eckland Blando, said Boerger was hired as a secular employee and was never asked to follow the university’s, or its donors, interpretation of the Bible.

“This has nothing to do with religion,” Boehning said in court.

She was fired “to appease the discriminatory views of donors,” he said.

Boerger’s complaint alleges that she was fired to ensure those donors keep donating to the school after those donors complained about her being a “publicly avowed lesbian,” while serving as the school’s choir director.

Further, Augsburg is not arguing Boerger's termination was religiously motivated, Boehning said Thursday. Instead, the university has twisted its former professor's complaint into one about religious discrimination, though that is not what Boerger alleges.

In an email to Misfits Media, Weber asserted that Boerger’s complaint is regarding religious discrimination, which is protected under the First Amendment.

"Augsburg denies your statement that it in anyway discriminates against LGBTQ+ people based on 'its current interpretation of Lutheranism.’" Weber wrote in an email to Misfits Media. "Augsburg is committed to providing an inclusive educational community and embraces students and staff of all backgrounds and regardless of protected class."

Boerger was hired by Augsburg in 2018 as part of the John N. Schwartz Endowed Choral Professorship, created by donations from Augsburg alumni John Schwartz, a progressive gay man. 

The purpose of the endowment was to create a new choral program at Augsburg that “sought to combine music reflective of a plurastic society, superior choral performance standards, and the University’s commitment to civic engagement and inclusion,” according to Boerger’s complaint against the school. 

She was the only one out of over a hundred applicants that received an interview for the position and she received Schwartz’s approval. Her background includes directing choirs at various national and international events like performing at the White House during Barrack Obama’s administration.

As part of her accepting the position, she was given tenure due to the potential controversial nature of the program and because she planned to finish out her teaching career at Augsburg. 

However, over the seven years she served Augsburg students, Boerger received criticism from school administrators regarding complaints from conservative donors that pushed for the choir to return to its Lutheran roots and for an openly gay woman not to serve in the position.

Conley took Thursday's arguments under advisement and said he would issue a ruling shortly.