Saginaw Catholic therapist sues over firing after refusing to counsel gay couple

A social worker is suing her former employer after she was fired for refusing to provide marriage counseling to a gay couple because it conflicted with her Catholic faith.

Kathleen Lorentzen alleges in a new federal lawsuit that she was discriminated against, mocked for her beliefs and physically intimidated by her male supervisors at HealthSource Saginaw.

"Mrs. Lorentzen’s protected status (religion) was a motivating factor in the decisions of defendant HealthSource that constituted adverse employment actions, including her termination," the lawsuit reads.

Lorentzen worked from 2011 to 2017 as an outpatient behavioral therapist for HealthSource, according to the complaint filed late last week in U.S. District Court. In summer 2017, a gay couple was referred to her for marriage counseling.

She saw the couple twice. Because of her Catholic beliefs, she felt she could no longer counsel them on their marriage, the complaint says. The Catholic Church teaches that marriage is a union between a man and a woman.

Lorentzen said she asked her supervisor, Mark Kraynak, on Aug. 23 if the couple could be referred to another therapist because of the conflict with her beliefs.

The complaint says Kraynak became angry. Later, Kraynak allegedly interrogated Lorentzen during a meeting and told her she had to be “a social worker first, and a Catholic second.”

Lorentzen said a program executive, Mark Puckett, gave her a Sept. 6 letter that said she was being terminated in 30 days.

In the days that followed, Lorentzen alleges, she was treated in ways that undermined and humiliated her. In once such instance, Lorentzen said she was walking behind Kraynak through a heavy door when Kraynak intentionally closed the door on her, causing her to drop files she was carrying.

On other occasions, Krayak and another male supervisor physically blocked her as she was trying to walk down a hallway, according to the complaint.

Kraynak and Puckett, who are both listed as defendants along with HealthSource Saginaw, could not be reached for comment. Lorentzen also could not be reached.

The lawsuit alleges that HealthSource told Lorentzen's clients — without telling her — that she was leaving the company.

"This action caused confusion with Mrs. Lorentzen’s clients, many of whom felt angry, betrayed, or anxious about purportedly having to see a new therapist," the complaint says.

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges HealthSource interfered with Lorentzen’s ability to see her patients after she was fired.

When HealthSource’s medical director found out the reason Lorentzen was leaving, he told Kraynak and another supervisor that the couple could simply have been referred to another therapist, according to the lawsuit.

Lorentzen, who is represented by the Thomas More Law Center, is seeking a jury trial and an unspecified amount of damages.

Contact Ann Zaniewski: 313-222-6594 or azaniewski@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AnnZaniewski.