Supreme Court rules against 2 teachers at religious schools in discrimination case
The Supreme Court said Wednesday that religious schools have sweeping authority to hire and fire their educators, weeks after oral arguments that left several justices voicing concern about how a potential ruling could entangle secular courts in spiritual affairs.
The day’s 7-2 decision on the combined Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru and St. James School v. Biel cases carry significant consequences for a legal doctrine known as ministerial exception. Former teachers sued the two Catholic schools in Southern California after losing their jobs, launching a fresh test of a 2012 high court decision and new tension between workers rights and church authority.
But the court ruled constitutional language that protects religious freedom barred the former teachers from suing their private schools for employment discrimination.
"The religious education and formation of students is the very reason for the existence of most private religious schools, and therefore the selection and supervision of the teachers upon whom the schools rely to do this work lie at the core of their mission," Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the court's majority opinion. It was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
"Judicial review of the way in which religious schools discharge those responsibilities would undermine the independence of religious institutions in a way that the First Amendment does not tolerate," Alito wrote.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented, arguing the majority's "simplistic approach" to the case "has no basis in law and strips thousands of schoolteachers of their legal protections."
"The Court’s apparent deference here threatens to make nearly anyone whom the schools might hire 'ministers' unprotected from discrimination in the hiring process," Sotomayor wrote. "That cannot be right."
Wednesday's decision marked the first of twin victories in one day for religious interests before the high court.
A separate 7-2 decision upheld the Trump administration’s broad rollback of Obamacare rules requiring employers to provide free birth control to women, in a major victory for faith-based groups allied with President Donald Trump.
Prominent religious groups including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops filed briefs supporting the religious schools. The Department of Justice also backed the schools, and sent attorney Morgan Ratner from the U.S. Solicitor General's office to argue before the court.
“This ruling is welcome news for Americans of all faiths," Heritage Foundation President Kay C. James said in a statement. "By allowing religious institutions — without interference from government — to decide for themselves who will teach their faith and how that faith will be taught, America preserves the fundamental right of religious freedom.”
Organizations including the National Women’s Law Center and other civil rights groups supported the former teachers before the court, while the American Civil Liberties Union and Anti-Defamation League filed a joint neutral brief on the case.
"Today’s ruling means religious institutions who wish to fire or refuse to hire school teachers or other staff based on age, race, sexual orientation, or other discriminatory factors now have legal cover for doing so," Maggie Siddiqi of the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress said in a statement. "This decision could strip away the right of millions of workers at religious institutions — from teachers to health care professionals — to sue employers if they experience employment discrimination."
Agnes Morrissey-Berru taught at Our Lady of Guadalupe School in Hermosa Beach, where she led students in daily prayer, planned liturgy for a monthly Mass and held other religious responsibilities. She sued the school for age discrimination when her contract was not renewed.
Kristen Biel was a full-time teacher with similar religious duties at St. James School in Torrance. She also filed a federal discrimination lawsuit when her contract was not renewed while she was being treated for breast cancer.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded each teacher had significant religious responsibilities, but that their work did not rise to a level where the schools could use the ministerial exception rule to terminate them.
The Supreme Court first set out the ministerial exception principle in a unanimous 2012 decision that prohibited employment discrimination lawsuits brought on behalf of ministers against their churches. Justices did not adopt a “rigid formula” to decide when an employee qualifies as a minister in that case, creating a central point of debate this year.
That left justices to assess again whether constitutional clauses protecting the free exercise of religion prevent civil courts from ruling on discrimination cases brought by employees of religious organizations, if those employees carry out important religious functions.
"The independence of religious institutions in matters of 'faith and doctrine' is closely linked to independence in what we have termed 'matters of church government,'" the court's majority opinion concluded.
"This does not mean that religious institutions enjoy a general immunity from secular laws, but it does protect their autonomy with respect to internal management decisions that are essential to the institution’s central mission. And a component of this autonomy is the selection of the individuals who play certain key roles."
