The governing body for high school sports in Pennsylvania has asked a federal judge to dismiss a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by Bishop McCort Catholic Academy of Johnstown that contends the statewide organization ignored attempts by the public schools in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference to terminate membership of its three religious-based schools.

The McCort lawsuit, filed earlier this year, and updated in May, has charged that the board of the Athletic Conference had plans to terminate the memberships of McCort, Bishop Carroll Catholic High School of Ebensburg and Bishop Guilfoyle Academy from the conference.

The lawsuit names as defendants 18 public school districts who are members of the conference as well as the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Conference.

The charges stemmed from a vote taken by the LHAC last November in which it altered its constitution to make it easier to expel member schools from the conference.

McCort challenged the LHAC constitutional change by filing a federal lawsuit charging the conference and the PIAA with violations of the First Amendment guarantee of the right to religious expression and a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause.

In January, the LHAC executive board held a vote concerning the schools that would constitute the conference over the next four years, from 2027-31.

The three religious-based schools, including McCort, sought continued membership in the conference, and, with respect to McCort, all but two voted in favor of maintaining it in the LHAC.

With that vote in January, the public schools have sought dismissal of the federal lawsuit that has been assigned to Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand, who presides in Pittsburgh.

The public school districts in various filings have argued that a key to the success of the lawsuit is that McCort must prove it has suffered an “injury” of some kind.

The public schools contend the January vote to continue McCort’s membership in the LHAC has eliminated any alleged injury to the school.

The PIAA this week also presented a similar argument in seeking dismissal of the lawsuit.

Harrisburg attorneys Dana W. Chilson and Austin D. Hughey, representing the PIAA, reported in a dismissal petition, that the lawsuit charges the PIAA with “inaction” or failure to intercede while knowing the constitutional alteration passed by LHAC last November laid the groundwork for expulsion of the religious-based schools.

(The lawsuit noted that information was provided to it by a PIAA official).

The PIAA petition continued: “Bishop McCort concedes that the LHAC member schools voted to accept Bishop McCort’s continuation as a member and, therefore there is no ‘harm,’ injury-in-fact, to Bishop McCort.

“Given this concession, Bishop McCort does not have standing to maintain a claim with no injury-in-fact,” according to the PIAA.

The PIAA also addressed McCort’s charge that the organization “readily challenges student transfers to McCort while allowing student transfers to freely occur between public schools with little question.”

The PIAA discounted this charge by pointing out that contention is not a harm to McCort, but to the student athletes.

The PIAA then moved to dismiss this claim on the basis that Bishop McCort has not identified any harm to itself as opposed to student athletes.

In referring to yet another point in the McCort lawsuit, the PIAA denied it has treated McCort differently from LHAC’s secular members in reacting to complaints of violations of its governing rules and policies, an alleged violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

“Given that no harmful action was taken against Bishop McCort by PIAA member schools, there is no reason for the PIAA to take action against any school member.

“In the absence of harm, Bishop McCort cannot maintain its claims,” the PIAA argues.

McCort, through attorneys George R. Farneth II of Pittsburgh and Nicholas A. Miller, however, does not agree that there has been no harm.

McCort stated in a July filing, the defendants in the case “seek to ignore or downplay the statement of the PIAA District Chairman (the district that includes many of the LHAC schools) who asserted that when he investigated the matter, it was clear that the defendants were acting for the stated purpose of removing the Catholic schools, including (McCort) from the LHAC.”

This statement was in answer to the public schools’ contention that the lawsuit must be dismissed — as also contended by the PIAA — because no harm has occurred.

McCort contended in its recent filing, “Put differently, a defendant may not moot a case by the simple expedient of suspending its challenged conduct after it is sued.

“Rather, the defendant claiming that its voluntary compliance moots a case bears the formidable burden of showing that it is absolutely clear the allegedly wrongful behavior could not reasonably be expected to recur.”

It will be up to the judge to determine if the McCort lawsuit will continue.