Original subtitles

- When my son called, he was panicked.

He just kept saying over and over again that

whatever happened between him and Tess was an accident,

and I believed him.

But even so, I knew that my boy's life would be ruined.

So I gave him an alibi,

and I helped him get rid of Tess's body.

And when that teacher got grabbed up,

I-I felt bad about that, I really did,

but it was between him and my son, and I chose my son.

When you're a parent, that's what you do.

- It's over.

- You protect your boy.

- It's really over.

- They protect their boy...

No matter what.

- Breakfast of champions.

- Long weekend helping Mom pack for Somalia.

- About that, we haven't had a chance to talk

since your mom was here.

I'm headed over to St. Vincent's

to see Father Charles.

Why don't you walk with me?

- Yeah, um, I'm, like, kind of an agnostic.

- A what?

- I mean, I-I believe in a higher power and all that.

I'm just not really into the whole church-going thing.

No offense.

- None taken.

You have anything to add to this conversation?

- Amen.

- I'll have Father Charles pray for both your souls.

- Bye, Dad. - Thank you, Dad.

- Thanks for coming by on such short notice.

- Message sounded important. Something about a teacher?

- Teacher I had to fire last week.

- Um, yeah? For what reason?

- She got pregnant through in vitro fertilization.

Was hoping you'd represent her.

- Hold on now, Charles.

You fired someone, and now you want me

to help her sue your parish?

- Ava and her husband

have struggled for years to have a child.

Nothing worked.

That's when they turned to IVF to get pregnant.

- She must've known it was against church policy.

- She did.

But there's nothing in the Bible that says

a couple can't turn to a doctor for help.

Science is a part of God's grand design.

As far as I'm concerned, her child is a miracle.

- Still, suing your parish, I don't know.

- She's a good Catholic, Elijah.

A great teacher.

Only thing she's guilty of is

wanting to be a mother to her own kids.

- So how many recruiters we expecting today?

- At least three.

Memphis, Ole Miss, even Vanderbilt.

- Vandy's in the house? - Mm-hmm.

- Better tell the rest of the recruiters

they're wasting their time.

- You know Maceo intends

on breaking your wrestling record today.

How you feel about that?

- Great.

- Oh, my God.

You rooting for my nephew to fail?

- Hey, it is my record.

- Uh, not for long.

- What are you talking about?

I've wrestled like this all season.

- It doesn't matter. - I'm not doing it.

I'm not cutting my hair. Now it's a problem?

- No, it's always been a problem.

- No, I'm not doing it, no. - Maceo, what's going on?

- This ref says I have to cut my locks

if I want to compete today.

- What? Absolutely not.

- Those are the rules.

A player cannot have hair

below the ear lobes or on the collar.

- What happened to the bandanna he's worn

over his head all season?

- A bandanna is not considered a legal hair cover

according to Tennessee regulations.

Now, if I had been the ref in his other matches,

there's no way I would've allowed it.

- Coach, what are our choices?

- Ref says his hair has to be short enough

to fit into a regulation cap, or he forfeits the match.

- What? Coach, but that's messed up.

- Okay, so, if he forfeits today

- He's our best wrestler.

If he doesn't compete today,

our undefeated season is at risk.

- But he can still compete at State.

- Yeah, he can compete. - Let's be very clear.

I am the lead ref at State.

If he doesn't cut it, he's not gonna be able to

- This is total bull - Maceo.

- NoWhatever. Just get it done.

- No, no, no. No.

- Do not touch his hair.

- Who are you?

- I'm his attorney.

- You, uh you teach music, Ava?

- I lead the youth choir and teach English Literature.

- Mm. Oh, I saw the go-bag out there.

- Yeah, packing that bag is nearly the last

of my pre-daddy chores.

All that's left is putting together the baby's crib,

which will probably take me a month

'cause the instructions are in German.

- Dad...

the morals clause in Ava's employment contract,

is absurd and as expansive as the Grand Canyon.

Look.

Any action deemed offensive by the Catholic Church

is grounds for termination.

- Father Charles told us the church felt

we had committed a grave...

And offensive sin against God.

How is seeking help to get pregnant

a sin against God?

- We knew t-the church's stance on IVF.

That's why we agreed

to use every viable embryo

that resulted from the procedure.

Even if that meant having triplets,

then we were okay with that.

That right, hon? - Mm-hmm.

- Ava, the law is on your side here.

We can sue for wrongful termination.

Also, as a pregnant woman,

you're part of a protected class,

which means we can sue the parish

for violating your civil rights under Title VII.

- Wait. I love the church.

Going after them in court is not what I want from this.

- What do you want, Ava?

- I want my job back at St. Vincent's.

- I grew up in a parish similar to St. Vincent's,

so I get why you might be hesitant to bring an action.

But trust me when I say the last thing the church wants

is a lawsuit like yours going to trial.

Once they see that we're serious,

they're gonna be much more inclined to negotiate.

- Did you see the way my teammates looked at me?

Like it's my fault we lost today.

So what happens now?

- Well, we go to the school board,

and we get them to let you compete at State

with your natural hair.

- The school board? - Yeah.

- Man, that's too much.

I should just cut it. I don't

- Is that what you want, Maceo? To cut your locks off?

- I mean, no. It's my hair.

It's who I am. It's like

- Your identity? I understand.

- Look, I'll cut them if I have to, but

- No, no, no, no, no buts.

You shouldn't have to lose something that is part of you

just to conform to some kind of arbitrary regulation.

- Yeah, a regulation that was left over from a time

when only white kids were allowed to wrestle.

- Mr. Strait, the Archdiocese is prepared to offer

Mrs. Fullum two years' worth of salary

as severance.

- With respect, our client's not interested in a settlement.

Um...

she just wants to go back to teaching.

- That's never going to happen.

Mrs. Fullum committed a travesty.

- The only travesty that was committed here, sir,

was the wrongful termination of our client.

Despite the religious protections

afforded the church by the state,

it's a clear-cut case of discrimination.

- Good luck proving that in court.

Mr. Strait, you and I both know

this is going to be a case about morality.

And on that issue, we hold the high ground.

- Really?

Have you read the papers in the last 10 years?

Waging war against our client is a monumental mistake,

one that shows just how out of step

and arrogant the church really is.

- Syd - You know, we asked for this

friendly negotiation because my father

has respect for the church,

but if you come after our client,

I will come after the church,

and mark my words, it will not be pretty.

.

- If Ava decides to sue,

we got to take the gloves off

- And expose the Catholic Church

for the hypocritical and archaic institution that it is.

Dad, come on, the Church

they protect priests for committing unspeakable crimes

- I applaud the way the Church continues to handle

that horrific situation.

- You can't condemn an entire religion

because of the behavior of a few bad priests.

- Watch me.

- If the Church can evolve on things like divorce,

why can't it evolve when it comes to science, like IVF,

or allowing women to use birth control?

- Exactly, Emerson.

Good point. - A very good point.

But there is the matter of Ava's employment contract.

She agreed to the terms of the morals clause.

- An overly ambiguous clause.

- Ambiguous or not, Ava signed on the dotted line.

She knew what she was getting into,

just like I knew what I was getting into

when I came out in my family's church.

Once that cat was out of the bag,

I was not welcome.

- What did you do?

- Well, I found a new church that welcomed me,

that had a more equitable view of morality,

and they didn't rank one sin being worse than another.

- Okay, that's how you attack this case.

You argue that if no sin is worse than another,

why is Ava's sin being used against her?

- But then you have to dig up dirt on all the people

employed by St. Vincent's Academy.

- That's an ugly way to do business.

- Ugly but effective. - We're not that kind of firm.

- Well, maybe we should be.

- We can't win by demeaning the Catholic Church.

- Dad, I get that you have this loyalty to the Church,

but we're not gonna win unless you go dirty.

- If Ava wants to sue the parish,

we're not going dirty.

We win this case by showing the jury...

what a good teacher Ava is.

- She tutored me every day after school

for a whole semester.

Thanks to her,

I got a full-ride scholarship to college.

- We win by showing what a great Catholic she is.

- Mrs. Fullum started this soup kitchen,

worked night and day to sign kids up to work here

after school and on the weekends.

- We win by showing what a great mother Ava will be.

- Ava convinced the Diocese to open this pre-school

for working mothers.

Most days, she spends her lunch hour

down here playing with the kids.

- We win by showing that the kids of St. Vincent Academy

will be harmed if they lose their teacher.

- So your strategy

is that we go high, even when the Church goes low

and attacks Ava on the stand? - Especially then.

See, I don't think we can lose

if we make Ava the face of this case.

Hey, Ava. - Hi, come in.

- Oh, we skipping school now? Huh?

Maceo.

Coach says you quit the team. You just giving up? Huh?

- Bri, Bri, Bri.

I got this.

You know, I used to play a little bit.

High-school ball. Yeah, I was all right.

You know getting kicked off the team isn't gonna fix things.

- I'm a 16-year-old black kid from North Memphis.

If I do wrestle or don't wrestle, what does it matter?

- Matters to you teammates.

Should matter to you.

You can be the kid who quits.

Or you can be the man who stands up

for what he believes in...

stands up for his truth.

- I just want to get to State and win...

without losing the stuff I care about.

- We can help you get what you want.

- Just got to let us try.

- We spoke to your former students and colleagues.

- They have all agreed to testify on your behalf

if we file against the church.

- Honey, what do you think?

- I think suing the parish is a big deal.

- That's our family.

I mean, it's who we are.

- Yeah.

- Ava, I think you need to see this.

- Ava, when they heard you were fired,

they staged a walkout.

- We support you, Mrs. Fullum.

- Thank you.

But ditching school is not going to help me

get my job back, okay?

Let's go back and finish the good work that we started.

Okay?

You responsible for this? Right?

- The face of our lawsuit.

- If she wants to be.

- Thank you, guys.

We prayed that God would send us a sign

about suing the parish.

- I can't imagine a better sign than those kids.

- Let's go forward.

- Okay.

.

- I'm worried that we're gonna lose

if Dad doesn't try this case right.

- Hmm. You know what I think? - What?

- You got an issue with the Catholic Church.

- They just fired a woman for getting pregnant with IVF.

Yes, I have a problem with organized religion in general.

- Oh, so, uh, you're an atheist now?

- Look, when I would go to Mass on Sunday,

I would see Sunny Jenkins and Janice Hunt

sitting in their pews, reading their missals, praying,

only to find out that they were both sleeping with my dad.

The Church is just a sanctuary for hypocrites.

Also, when I asked that deacon if I could be a priest

and he said no because I'm a girl,

so add misogyny to the list of grievances

I've got with the Church. - Okay, Syd, Syd, be real.

- Well, Bri - Be real.

Look, the Church isn't about a few individuals.

It's about having faith in God.

- I'm just not sure that I can have faith

in a system that's so flawed.

- You have faith in our justice system.

- That's different, you know, because the justice system,

it relies on laws and precedent, you know?

It's flawed, but it's always evolving.

And it's tangible.

- If you can't see God or touch Him,

you're trying to tell me He doesn't exist?

'Cause when I look around, I see God weaving His wonders

everywhere, not just at church.

At work, with my nephew

- Oh. Maceo.

How is that going, by the way?

- Anthony appealed to the school board,

and, uh, we're just waiting to hear back.

- Well, at least he's got his Auntie Bri.

And the king Anthony Little on his side.

Do not tell Anthony that I said that.

- King? I'm so telling him. I am so

- Oh, God.

- Mrs. Lambert, your daughter was in

Mrs. Fullum's English class, was she not?

- Until I had her transferred to a different class.

- Why did you have her transferred?

- The last thing we need is for Abigail to be

exposed to a teacher who was of...

questionable moral character.

- Hold on. Mrs. Lambert is an accountant.

That hardly makes her an authority

on good moral character.

- Mrs. Lambert was a friend of Mrs. Fullum's.

- We were friends,

until her behavior became erratic the last few years.

And it wasn't because of the hormones

that the IVF doctors had her on.

It was because she was on drugs.

I found a bottle of pills in her bathroom

when I was at her house one day.

- You've heard Mrs. Lambert's previous testimony?

- Yes.

- Have you ever been on drugs, Mrs. Fullum?

- For a short time, my doctor prescribed me antidepressants.

- Why were you depressed?

- I hadI just gone through my third miscarriage.

And I was ready to give up on my dream of being a mom.

- Thank you, Mrs. Fullum.

- Mrs. Fullum, are you aware

of the Catholic Church's stance

against in vitro fertilization?

- I was, but...

it was the only way I was able to get pregnant.

- Well, you sure have a history of violating

the school's policies, don't you?

- I'm not sure what you mean.

- You made this play available to your English students,

even though it's not

on the preapproved school's reading list.

As well as these books

Walt Whitman, "Leaves of Grass,"

"Madame Bovary,"

"A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man."

- These books are on a supplemental reading list

for my honor students preparing for advanced-placement tests.

I give them copies only after I've met with their parents

to explain to them that there may be material

in the books some people find

- Offensive?

- Sophisticated for the young mind.

- This is a copy of your employment contract.

Could you please read section 12.4

of the morals clause?

- "No teacher is allowed to provide a student

"with books not listed

on St. Vincent Academy's preapproved reading list."

- You recommend banned books...

take banned pills...

and undergo banned procedures.

How many offenses do you have to commit...

before the school has the right to fire you?

- That church lawyer is just warming up, okay?

The second that we get into court,

he's going to dig up anything he can find on Ava

and smear her with it.

- If we go low

and there's one Catholic on that jury, we lose.

There's a right way to win this and a wrong way.

- I'm sorry. I justI don't get it.

I don't I-I do not understand

how you can believe in an organization that is so flawed.

- You used to ask your mom the same thing about me.

She had so much faith in people...

in me.

Her optimism just poured out to everyone.

Ava's got that same kind of optimism, Syd.

She's got that same kind of faith.

She loves the Church.

Last thing I want to do is win this case

and send her back to some church

that's a little more broken.

- Okay, well, thank you for letting me know.

- Hey. - Okay, I'll speak to you soon.

- You got a sec? - Okay, bye.

- You got a second? - Yeah, what's up?

- Um, I was thinking...

as soon as the settlement comes from the city,

I'd like to set up a scholarship in Tess's name.

And that way, she'll she'll live on,

and, uhand a few years from now, like, 20 years from now,

there will be 20 people that she saved.

You know?

I think that's a great idea, George.

I think that's great.

Ah...

- Hey, what's up?

- Um...

yeah, I justI got off the phone with Robbie.

Tess's mother

the news hit her pretty bad.

She just got picked up for a DUI.

She's okay, but...

- That poor woman.

I think I should talk to her.

- No. I-I don't think that's a good idea.

- Yeah, you know, she's she's a victim, too, Jake.

I mean, right now she's all alone in the world.

I mean, that's not right.

That's not right.

- And so, Father Charles, although you fired Mrs. Fullum,

you've been testifying here today on her behalf.

Can you tell us why?

- I believe the Church has it wrong..

Science isn't some abstract thing

created outside of the realm of God.

The child that Ava is carrying is a miracle,

assisted by science, but divined by God.

- Thank you, Father.

Your witness.

- We have no questions for Father Charles.

- Uh... - We should rest.

- Yeah.

Plaintiff rests.

- The witness is excused.

- Instead, Your Honor, the defense calls

Dr. Miles Jones to the stand.

- Objection. Uh, objection, Your Honor.

Uh, Dr. Jones is not on the defense witness list.

- Your Honor, we're calling the witness to testify

- Testify? Dr. Jones was Mrs. Fullum's former doctor.

Given the confidentiality

of the patient-doctor relationship,

there's no way that... - Ava...

- This doctor should be allowed to testify, Your Honor.

- The plaintiffs put Mrs. Fullum's health in issue.

We have the right to call a witness

to speak to her state of health.

- I'll allow the witness.

- Thank you, Your Honor.

Dr. Jones, could you briefly tell the court

how in vitro fertilization works?

- Simply put, I extract an egg from a woman,

fertilize it with a man's sperm,

and then insert the embryo into a woman's uterus.

If all goes well, the viable embryo attaches to the uterus,

and 40 weeks later, a child is born.

- And the embryo you implanted in Mrs. Fullum's uterus,

is...is that the only viable embryo?

- No.

There was another.

- What'd you do with the second embryo?

- Mrs. Fullum gave us permission to destroy it.

- Mrs. Fullum allowed you

to destroy a viable embryo?

- That's correct.

- No further questions.

- Dr. Jones...

given Mrs. Fullum's medical history,

had she carried both viable embryos,

what were the chances that she would've been able to carry

both of those to full term?

- Less than 5%.

- Less than 5%.

And if she'd carried just one?

- She'd have greater than 50% success rate

of giving birth to the one.

- Wow.

Thank you.

Nothing further.

.

- You know, I made Tess and her classmates

come down to this cemetery once

for a paper they were working on.

- "Hamlet." I remember.

Thought it was a morbid choice.

Yeah, yeah, probably was.

- Tess loved it.

You inspired her, made her love school.

- Students like her inspired me.

- Can you forgive me?

Can you ever possibly forgive me?

- There's nothing to forgive.

- I stole your life.

I...

- Oh.

It's not your fault.

Not one bit of it is your fault.

You know, Tess loved you.

We're free now.

And so is she.

- I don't know how he does it, man.

If I were George, I'd...

want to strangle everyone who had anything to do

with putting me prison.

Do you know that this, uh

thisthis all started with a Post-it note?

Led me to the best man I've ever met.

- I just can't get over the fact that she lied to me...

For all those months.

- In my job, I find myself facing lots of decisions

about what's wrong, what's right,

should I, shouldn't I.

Where I landed, I asked myself...

do I have the right intentions?

If my motivations are good, then...

I believe that's the best criteria

to decide hard questions.

I believe Ava was trying to protect you.

I think if you can get to that...

you'll find a way to work through your anger.

- Ava...

If we lose this case, you're gonna find another job

at a school with students that adore you

and a community that appreciates you

- This is my community.

Win or lose...

this is where Blake and I will raise our daughter.

- After everything that's happened,

you still have faith?

- My faith isn't about a...

parish or a building.

It's...it's about knowing

that I don't have to walk alone through this life.

- My dad's always felt that way...

that God was present in his life,

looking after him.

- And you?

- Uh, honestly?

- Mm-hmm.

Uh...

I don't know.

- You're not someone who thinks they have faith.

But...

you are a woman determined...

to leave this world a little better than you found it.

And if you think about it, that...

that is the most powerful act of faith of all.

- Oh, you okay?

She's active today.

- May I? - Yeah.

- Okay.

- Right... - Where?

- There.

- Oh, oh.

Oh, that's wild.

- This is an emergency board meeting

requested by Attorney Anthony Little

on behalf of Hilltop High

- Everyone's looking at me like this is my fault.

- Everyone is here to support you.

- It doesn't look that way to me.

- In attendance, we have the full board

and two representatives from the Tennessee Athletics League.

Mr. Little, the mic is yours.

- Thank you. - Yeah.

- Good afternoon.

- I'm sorry. I'm out.

- Maceo. - No.

- I would

I come today not as an attorney

but as a father...

to talk about the responsibility

we have as parents,

teachers, and coaches...

to our youth.

Maceo Johnson has done everything that society

has asked him to do in order to succeed.

He is an incredible student...

an excellent athlete...

and yet, here we are...

At a meeting where this young man's future is on the line.

Over what?

Haircut?

I mean, we can blame Maceo's haircut.

We can even blame the referee who made the call,

or...

we could address the real problem.

It's a problem that is rooted in a system

where black children are prevented from realizing

their full potential...

simply because the thought of them succeeding

makes some folks uncomfortable.

So I stand before the board

and the state's athletic league with a proposal...

an opportunity...

for everyone to do what's right and change the rule

so that athletes who look like Maceo Johnson

can keep their hair and their identity...

And compete at the state level.

Because the future is now...

and Maceo Johnson is...

an integral part of what that future looks like.

Thank you.

- Hey.

Mom just called. Said to, uh, say hello, so...

- She got in okay?

- Yeah. Yeah, yeah, she's good.

You know, um...

when I was a kid,

I used to really wonder what it would be like...

you know, having you two together...

under the same roof, like a...

like a regular family.

- I'm sorry I wasn't able to give you

that kind of experience growing up.

- No, it's, um...

it's okay, you know?

Now I have you and Sydney...

which is cool.

- Got our first Thanksgiving coming up...

our first Christmas.

- Yeah.

- Hey, Dad. Hey.

- Hey. - I think, uh...

you were right staying positive,

making Ava the face of the case,

that was the right call.

It was.

And I'd like to close tomorrow, if that's okay with you.

- You agree with my strategy decision,

and you want to close?

Did hell free over and I didn't notice?

- Look, the jury knows that you believe in Ava,

and I just want them to know that I believe in her, too.

Okay.

.

- This is case isn't about in vitro fertilization.

It's about religious freedom...

and the Church's right to set its own rules

for its clergy and employees.

Mrs. Fullum's attorneys would like you

to think that St. Vincent Academy

discriminated against her because she's a woman...

a pregnant woman...

part of a protected class.

That is categorically false.

This is a contractual issue.

Mrs. Fullum was fired because she violated

the morals clause of her employment contract

when she underwent IVF treatment.

That violation is the reason,

the only reason...

she was fired from her position as a teacher

at St. Vincent Academy.

Period.

- I grew up in the Catholic Church,

listening to God's teachings of love and faith

and...forgiveness.

The one concept I could never wrap my head around

was blind faith.

How can someone just believe without seeing,

without feeling, without touching?

And then I met Ava Fullum,

a woman...

with unshakable faith in God.

Ever since Ava was a little girl, she knew.

She knew that God wanted her

to be a teacher and a mother.

So, despite the Church's rules against IVF,

her allegiance belonged to a higher power...

to God and the plan that he had for her.

Ava's faith isis why we're here today,

just weeks before she has a child,

a child that is a blessing from God...

a miracle that...

She shouldn't be punished for by the Church...

let alone by this court.

Thank you.

Hey.

- Hey.

- Uh...how's your, uh how's your case going?

You're suing the parish? - Mm-hmm. Yes, I am.

- Mm.

- Um, we're just waiting on the verdict.

- Mm-hmm.

- How's Lauren?

- I don't know.

- What do you mean you don't know?

She's your your girlfriend.

- Not anymore.

- What? Why?

- She broke up with me.

- Oh, Robbie, I'm...

- She said I was still in love with you.

And I guess I didn't deny it fast enough, so...

There's that.

- All wrestlers must weigh in by 3:35

in order to compete in today's State Finals.

- Is Anthony gonna make it on time?

- I hope so.

- We're running out of time, Maceo.

It's either now or never.

- You know where I stand, Coach.

It's all good, Aunt Bri.

I stood up for myself.

I can live with that.

- About time.

- Can I wrestle? - Yeah, you can wrestle.

- Without cutting my hair? - That's right.

- The Tennessee Athletics League

is allowing you to wrestle as you have all season.

- But next season, they'll supply all wrestlers

with the appropriate headgear that will adjust

to all students, regardless of hair length and style.

- Go, go, go, go, go, go, go. - Yes.

Did I say thank you?

- About 100 times.

You ready to see your nephew wrestle?

- I'm ready to see him win.

What you talking about wrestle?

- Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,

have you reached a verdict?

- We have, Your Honor.

We find in favor of the defendant,

St. Vincent Parish.

- Tried calling, but I...

I think he turned his phone off.

- Oh, he just needs some time.

- Here, Dad. - Thanks.

- You okay?

- No, no, no, no, no. She's too early.

- Okay.

- Ava!

- Breathing.

- I got you. - Thank you.

- It's okay. Hey, all right.

She's fine, but I'm still gonna go with Ava to the hospital.

- I locked up. You go on, and I'll meet you there.

- What happened?

Is Ava okay? - She's in labor.

- Ava?

- It's okay. She's coming. - No.

- You're about to have that family

that you and Ava always dreamed of.

- I am.

I am.

- Go-bag.

- Yeah. Congratulations. Okay?

Go, go, go.

- Hi. - Hi.

- All right. Let's roll. - Go.

- But as we learned in today's reading

from 1 Corinthians,

love never fails us.

It always protects, always trusts.

- We're gathered here today

to apologize to an innocent man.

- When is all this gonna end, Jake?

- It won't take long. Just a quick speech.

- Always hopes, and it always perseveres.

- A man whose life and reputation was unfairly

- When this is over, you know, we can go and get some lunch

or, uh, maybe even jump in a fountain?

- Mr. Bell...

on behalf of the city of Memphis,

I want to offer you public apology.

But we hope this check helps as you move forward

in life toward bigger and brighter days.

- Faith, hope, and love...

these are integral parts of our relationship with God

and our fellow man.

But of all of these...

- God told us in today's readings