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1 1 (April 30, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdaey0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Ministerial Exception to Antidiscrimination Laws April 30, 2020 On May 11, the Supreme Court is set to hear oral argument by icpholn, in two cases involving a doctrine known as the ministeial exception. The ministerial exception prevents courts from interfering with churches' decisions to fire, demote, or otherwise discipline their ministers-even if those actions would otherwise violate federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Lower courts have divided on the question of when a religious organization's employee qualifies as a minister under this doctrine. Two cases, combined under the caption Our Lay oj(uda' ue School,,: ;or;issey-Berrn,, present the Supreme Court with the opportunity to clarify when teachers at religious schools should be considered ministers who are unprotected by federal antidiscrimination laws. This Legal Sidebar discusses Supreme Court precedent establishing the ministerial exception and then focuses on the cases under review at the Supreme Court, explaining their procedural history and the parties' arguments. Legal Background: Ministerial Exception The Supreme Court has long recogmized that the Religion Clauses of the U.S. Constitution's Farst Amendment prevent courts from adjudicating certain types of religious disputes. For example, the Constitution protects churches' freedom to decide matters of church government, allowing them to select clergy without government interference. In a 2012 decision, Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Supreme Court held that the First Amendment requires a ministerial eccption to federal antidiscrimination laws for claims concerning the employment relationship between a religious institution and its ministers. In that case, a Lutheran school allegedly unlawfully fired a teacher in retaliation for her threat to sue the school under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The church had designated the fired employee as a cal kd teacher, meaning she had completed a months-long colloquy program at a Lutheran school, been endorsed by the local Synod district, and was elected by the local congregation as a commissioned minister. She taught religion classes and led the students in prayer and religious services. Under the circumstances, the Supreme Court concluded that the ministerial exception applied to this teacher, requiring the lower court to dismiss her employment discrimination suit. The Court emphasized four factors in holding that the teacher in Hosanna-Tabor qualified as a minister covered by the ministerial exception. First, the Court noted that the church labeled her as a minister, Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10455 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Com m i::tteeso a Co gr ess ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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