A former City University of New York (CUNY) staff member is suing the university for wrongfully terminating her employment after she converted to Christianity, according to a religious discrimination lawsuit filed last week.
Teona Pagan, who worked at CUNY’s Research Foundation as the Fellowships and Public Service Program Coordinator, alleges she was denied a religious accommodation for an aspect of her job that required her to recruit students for a fellowship focused on the promotion of LGBT “rights and causes,” according to the complaint filed Aug. 28. When Pagan converted to Christianity in April 2022 — months after beginning her job in November 2021 — she suddenly found her duties related to the fellowship in conflict with her sincerely held religious beliefs.
“After my hire, I was told that the committee was particularly drawn to me because of my youthful maturity and willingness to stand boldly for issues plaguing our generation,” Pagan told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Ironically, when I decided to finally stand for the Truth, who is Jesus Christ, they chose to terminate my employment.”
Pagan was hired for the position right after graduating from the Honors Program at CUNY’s Baruch College, according to the lawsuit.
Pagan oversaw nine other fellowship programs, and less than 10% of her job was devoted to the LGBT-centered program, known as the Mixner Fellowship, she told the DCNF. She thought the religious accommodation would be an “easy fix and compromise,” especially since she had collaborated with her supervisor on other projects “where roles shifted smoothly.”
The David Mixner Fellowship awards students with a $5,000 grant to participate in an eight-week internship related to “LGBTQI+ causes, rights and advocacy,” according to the university’s website.
Pagan first brought the issue to her supervisor in April 2022, offering in her written request to have “more of a stakehold in the other programs to compensate for my absence in Mixner.”
“I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour and there are certain beliefs and behaviors that come with that,” she wrote in the April 27 request, explaining her continued participation in the Mixner program “would be a sin.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 25: A banner is displayed in the main quad as students and supporters of the pro-Palestinian movement demonstrate at an encampment set up early in the morning at the CUNY Harlem campus on April 25, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)
Pagan alleges in the lawsuit that she was “interrogated” about her beliefs during a June 2022 meeting with her supervisor and the human resources director. Her request was ultimately denied by the dean June 9 for creating “an undue burden on the office.”
She was then placed on administrative leave June 17 and told her contract would not be renewed on June 22, according to the complaint.
Pagan initially filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint, but the commission opted not to pursue further investigation in May 2024, according to a notice of right to sue.
Pagan told the DCNF she was willing to risk her job because she could no longer give students scholarships that enabled them to “invest in sin.” She now works for a Christian apparel company.
“Little did I know that my life would radically change in such a brief period,” she said. “But I give God all the glory for this entire journey and situation because I know that it is all for the Kingdom, and so that somebody else might ask, what must I do to be saved? I even pray the prosperity and peace of God for those that I am filing suit against.”
CUNY declined to comment due to the pending litigation.