I was fired for social media posts about being a good Christian wife... if it was LGBTQ issues, I would have been praised: Counsellor suing Catholic school says celebrating traditional values is now taboo
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As its thousand strong pupils are frequently reminded, the ethos of St Anne’s Catholic High School for Girls is rooted in Christian doctrine. Beaming out from the school website and featured on its letterheads is the motto: ‘Act Justly, love tenderly, walk humbly with your God.’.
![[The law graduate, 37, was dismissed in February 2023 after being told that her ‘online presence was not in line with the school’s ethos and mission statements’]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/17/20/93248133-14202471-image-a-62_1734467349255.jpg)
The words are a clear indicator that this educational institution is not secular or – as Gozen Soydag puts it – ‘not on the face of it, at least’. But then the 37-year-old law graduate has had ample time to reflect on the values of her former employer.
![[Gozen was posting on two Instagram accounts, with her wifeinthewaiting account (pictured) proving more problematic for her employer]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/17/20/93248591-14202471-image-a-61_1734467339796.jpg)
In February 2023, she was let go from her role as a learning support worker to year ten students – girls at the start of their GCSE studies - for which she was paid £1,000 a week for four days work. ‘We’d formed good relationships,’ she says. ‘I would come into my office and find a little note saying, “You’re the best, thank you”.
![[Gozen, pictured arriving at the employment tribunal in Watford, decided to launch legal action against the school seeking damages for breach of contract and wrongful dismissal]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/17/20/93248143-14202471-image-a-41_1734466393150.jpg)
But despite her popularity, she was dismissed after being told that her ‘online presence was not in line with the school’s ethos and mission statements’. Given the school’s stated commitment to Christian values, had Gozen been posting provocative selfies on her Facebook page? Expressing sympathy with terrorist organisations on Instagram?.
![[Gozen found her Christian faith in her early 20s after struggling for more than a decade with Hidradenitis suppurativa, a chronic skin condition that causes painful lumps and abscesses under the skin]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/17/20/93248167-14202471-image-a-60_1734467325357.jpg)
Gozen Soydag (pictured) was let go from her job as a secondary school learning support worker on account of her Instagram posts, which frequently celebrated traditional Christian values. The law graduate, 37, was dismissed in February 2023 after being told that her ‘online presence was not in line with the school’s ethos and mission statements’.
![[It wasn't just the content that Gozen shares on ‘wifeinthewaiting’ that the school objected to but the very existence of an account with that name]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/17/20/93248589-14202471-image-a-59_1734467313329.jpg)
