Brampton, ON, resident Sheree Di Vittorio said she was terminated as an accounts manager at AutoTrader because of a deputation she gave at a Catholic school board meeting against Pride stickers. .“This flag symbolizes sexual topics first of all,” said Di Vittorio in a Monday interview. .Di Vittorio said Pride stickers go against Catholicism. She added the Pride stickers went up in her daughter's school without the York Catholic District School Board’s (YCDSB) approval and parental consent. .She learned about them from her nine-year-old daughter, which forced her to have a conversation she did not want to have with her and for which she was unprepared. .She gave a deputation against Pride stickers in February where she said they go beyond anti-bullying. .“While I have nothing against the gay community, homosexuality is still considered a sin,” she said. .“It is a transgression against the will of God that robs people of their natural heterosexuality and the ability to create a traditional family.” .CBC News published a story quoting her out of context in March. The story said she called for sexual minority students to be unable to attend Catholic schools. .What it did not mention was she said Catholic schools do not allow certain Christian denominations to attend because of different beliefs, so why should sexual minorities come when their beliefs are incompatible..AutoTrader terminated her while she was on probation the following day, saying she was not the right fit. She said this is false because her boss told her on two separate occasions she was making great achievements. . Termination letterTermination letter .She contacted her boss the day after the story came out and said she wanted to discuss it to ensure she did not get the wrong idea. Her boss sent her a Zoom link one hour later and informed her she was being terminated. .Di Vittorio said she was shocked and disappointed, and the termination left her feeling sick to her stomach..These experiences motivated her to pull her daughter from the Catholic school system. She will be attending a private Christian school through her church which she knows will not speak about sexual minority topics. .Di Vittorio said she suspects AutoTrader was alerted to her ordeal because a person posted about it on Reddit. There were 2,000 hateful comments made about her, with some of them tagging it. .People called her a bigot and said she was scared her daughter will be a lesbian. No threats were made against her, but a few people trolled her Instagram account. .Since she has been out of work, she has fallen behind on her bills and her vehicle is about to be repossessed. .The YCDSB and CBC declined to comment. AutoTrader could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
