Teachers Win Defamation Case Against Pastor

Three former teachers at a Catholic school in Ohio will be awarded punitive damages after winning a defamation lawsuit against the parish and its pastor.

Diane Nameth, Judy Hudak and Mary Jo Keane, who were fired from the St. Bernadette parish in Westlake in 2006, claimed that pastor Thomas Weber had sullied their reputations in meetings and publications to parishioners meant to justify the firings, Cleveland News reports.

When parishioners objected to firing the three women, the pastor allegedly held an open meeting in which he accused the teachers of being uncooperative and disrespectful. Weber also commented that the diocese had investigated the teachers before firing them - a fact refuted by the teachers' lawyer, Rachel Weiser.

Jurors decided that the defendants must pay each claimant $225,000 compensation, $100,000 in punitive damages and cover the teacher's legal fees, the cost of which will be determined in a later hearing.
Jay Milano, another of the teacher's attorneys, commented, "The judgment, which will now be more than $1 million, is so high because the abuse of power was so outrageous."

The teachers' victory in their defamation suit was concurrent with a federal court dropping the high profile defamation case filed by pitcher Roger Clemens against his former trainer.