FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP)- An attorney for a former teacher fired by a Roman Catholic diocese in northeast Indiana for trying to get pregnant through in vitro fertilization is urging a federal judge to reject a request that he throw out a jury's verdict.

The filing Wednesday on behalf of Emily Herx contends a motion filed last week by the Fort Wayne-South Bend Catholic Diocese erroneously claims that no evidence supports the jury's verdict.

A federal jury ruled last month in Herx's favor and awarded her $1.9 million in damages. That award was later reduced to about $544,000.

Diocese officials declined to renew Herx's contract in 2011 because she had undergone the medical procedure that involves mixing eggs and sperm in a laboratory dish and transferring the resulting embryo to the womb.