‘Obey God rather than man’: Christian teacher fought for her rights and won

April 13, 2026

A science teacher in Salem, Ohio has successfully won an accommodation to take unpaid leave to observe religious holidays after being suspended by her school district earlier in the school year. 

The Christian Post reports that Shawnae Carlisle is a member of The Church of God, a Worldwide Association (COGWA), which observes Old Testament holidays, including the Feast of Tabernacles each fall, along with four other holy days throughout the year.

During her 15 years of teaching, Carlisle had always ensured a substitute was available to cover her classes while she was away.

However, in October 2025, the district denied her request for unpaid time off to observe the Feast of Tabernacles.

Carlisle told the Christian Post, “When faced with a conflict between what the school district demanded and what I believe God requires, I am compelled to obey God rather than man. Therefore, at the moment my superintendent informed me that my request for unpaid leave would not be granted, I understood clearly what I was still commanded to do.”

According to the Christian Post, she was later suspended for five days after taking time off.

First Liberty Institute (FLI) took up Carlisle’s case and sent the school district a letter arguing that the district’s reasoning “did not comport with its treatment of other teachers in the school,” describing the district’s actions as “arbitrary and inconsistent.”

Last month, the Salem City School District agreed to accommodate Carlisle’s religious observances with the settlement allowing her to take unpaid time off for various holy days in accordance with her faith, reversing the prior suspension and removing any pressure to choose between her job and her beliefs.

Ben Flowers, an attorney at the law firm Ashbrook Byrne Kresge Flowers LLC who represented Carlisle along with First Liberty Institute, said, “No one should be forced to violate their religious beliefs in order to keep their job, and we are glad that with this new religious accommodation, she will not have to choose between the two.”

Photo: top, Credit: iStock/TrongNguyen