A teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional School fired over becoming pregnant while unmarried will not get her job back.

Harrisburg Diocese Bishop Ronald Gainer has denied the appeal filed by Naiad Reich.

“I don't have anything more to say about it,” Reich said Friday.

Reich, 32, was dismissed Nov. 30 after announcing to school administrator Sister Mary Anne Bednar that she was pregnant. Bednar reached out to the diocese, which informed her that there needed to be a definite marriage plan in place.

“I could have sat in that meeting and said, ‘Sure, I'll get married,’” Reich said on Dec. 4. “I could have saved my job. But I was honest with them. I wasn't going to lie.”

Reich was in her second year of teaching at Lourdes in Northumberland County, about 75 miles northwest of Allentown. She said the pregnancy with her longtime boyfriend. Matt Graboski, was planned so Reich would not have to take off any school days.

She said she signed a morality clause when she was hired. The diocese's personnel policy notes that employees are “expected to conduct himself or herself at all times in accordance with Catholic morality and the rules and regulations of the school and the Diocese of Harrisburg and to avoid any embarrassment or scandal to the individual school or the Diocese.”

The diocese declined comment on the bishop's decision. In early December, diocese spokeswoman Rachel Bryson said, “The Diocese of Harrisburg is unable to comment on personnel matters. However, as outlined in our policies, every professional employee agrees to follow the teachings, doctrine and laws of the Catholic Church as part of the hiring process.”

The diocese covers Southcentral Pennsylvania, including Montour, Northumberland, Snyder and Union counties.

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