LOS ANGELES (CNS) – The Archdiocese of Los Angeles and St. Anthony High School in Long Beach are asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a man who alleges he was wrongfully fired as director of admissions and that his female supervisor openly favored replacing him with a woman.
Aaron Bryant’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit allegations also include discrimination, harassment, retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. On Thursday, defense attorneys filed court papers with Judge Randolph M. Hammock in advance of a July 8 hearing, contending that none of Bryant’s nine causes of action are sufficiently explained for him to move forward with his case.
The St. Anthony’s High School Foundation ceased operations and dissolved before Bryant’s employment and therefore could not have employed the plaintiff, according to the defense attorneys’ court papers.
“Plaintiff seeks to impose liability on religious entities that are expressly exempt from (the Federal Employment and Housing Act) and on a nonprofit corporation that ceased operations years before plaintiff’s employment began,” the defense lawyers write in their pleadings.
According to Bryant’s lawsuit, he was hired in August 2022 and contends that his supervisor complained that the position he held would be better served by a woman. He was once assigned to perform manual labor on campus with the facilities manager, a task unrelated to his job duties, the suit further states.
Bryant, believing the labor job was punitive and retaliatory, documented it as an alleged example of targeted and inappropriate treatment.
After his supervisor called him “weak” during an April 2024 conversation that left Bryant feeling degraded, the plaintiff complained to the principal, who did not investigate or provide guidance, according to the suit, which further states Bryant similarly got no satisfaction after reaching out to the archdiocese’s regional superintendent.
That same month, Bryant’s supervisor told him he was too focused on enrollment and added, “You would understand if you were a woman,” the suit states. Bryant considered the comments “demeaning” and “gender-based” and that they were irrelevant to his responsibilities as admissions director, the suit further states.
In another confrontation, Bryant’s supervisor told him in March 2025, “I am going to make your life hell until you quit. Men have no business in this type of role,” according to the suit, which also states that later in March, Bryant’s doctor placed him on an anxiety-related medical leave through April 30, 2025.
Bryant returned to work, but was fired in May 2025 without cause, resulting in lost wages, damage to his reputation and severe emotional distress and embarrassment, the suit states.
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