FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit against Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary can go forward.

The seminary had filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, but its motion was dismissed.

The suit was filed in March by former professor Sheri Klouda. She alleges she lost her tenure-track position because she is a woman teaching men. The lawsuit seeking unspecified damages accused the seminary and President Paige Patterson of breach of contract, fraud and defamation.

The seminary follows the Southern Baptist doctrine that limits the office of senior pastor to men and Patterson's interpretation that, consequently, only men should instruct future pastors.

According to the lawsuit, school officials informed Klouda that her contract was terminated because she was "a mistake that the trustees needed to fix."