A Minnesota appeals court on Monday upheld the Twin Cities archdiocese's removal from a lawsuit filed by a librarian who alleges a Twin Cities Catholic school ended her employment after she came out as transgender.

The woman sued the Academy of Holy Angels and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 2024, alleging the school violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act when officials didn't renew her contract after she told the principal she was transgender.

The archdiocese moved for dismissal, and a district court granted the motion, saying "the religious-freedom provisions in the United States and Minnesota Constitutions precluded [the] claims," according to the Court of Appeals' ruling.

In affirming a lower court's decision to dismiss the lawsuit against the archdiocese, the Court of Appeals said adjudicating the case "would violate the religious protections of the First Amendment."

"Because the allegations in [the] complaint would interfere with an internal church decision that affects the Archdiocese's faith-based mission to educate young people in the Catholic faith and would foster excessive governmental entanglement with religion, the district court properly dismissed those claims," the court said.

The woman's lawsuit against Holy Angels is still ongoing.

Gender Justice, which represents the woman in the lawsuit, called the ruling an "overly broad interpretation of the Federal Constitution."

"Religious freedom was never intended to give religious institutions, acting as employers, a blanket license to discriminate against secular employees," Gender Justice Legal Director Jess Braverman said. "We will continue fighting to make sure the law protects everyone, regardless of who they are or where they work."

Gender Justice said it "strongly disagrees with the court's interpretation and is considering next steps."

In a statement, the archdiocese said it is "grateful" for the ruling.

"The United States and Minnesota Constitutions recognize the right to practice our religion without government interference, which necessarily includes how we educate our youth in the faith," the archdiocese said. "Decades of precedent from the United States and Minnesota Supreme Courts, as well as other cases from around the country, have recognized the protections that the First Amendment provides to religious organizations. Monday's decision from the Minnesota Court of Appeals confirms that constitutional promise."