Belmont Abbey Head: Washington Instructed Officials to Pursue Discrimination Charges

Belmont Abbey Head: Washington Instructed Officials to Pursue Discrimination Charges
Catholic college removed abortion, sterilization, and contraception coverage from employee health plan
By Kathleen Gilbert

BELMONT, North Carolina, August 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an exclusive interview with LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) today, Belmont Abbey College president Dr. William Thierfelder said officials at the Charlotte division of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) told him that a decision to close a discrimination complaint against the school for failing to offer contraception coverage was reversed after the matter went to the nation's capital.

Eight BAC faculty members filed a complaint against the college for removing coverage for abortion, sterilization, and contraception from their employee health insurance, supplied by Wellpath. The faculty first complained to the North Carolina Department of Insurance that BAC was required to cover contraception under state law because it did not qualify for the religious employer exemption. Both the state department and Wellpath, however, disagreed with the complainants. the rest