Catholic School Discrimination Win Boosts NJ Religious Firms (1)

New Jersey’s religious employers and religion-aligned companies broadened their powers to enforce beliefs through employment practices in a state Supreme Court decision Monday upholding the “ministerial” and “religious tenets” exceptions to state discrimination laws.

In a 5-0 decision, the justices ruled a Catholic school had an affirmative defense to state worker protections when it fired an unmarried art teacher for becoming pregnant, closing a decade-long dispute that culminated in a marathon three-hour oral argument this April. The decision had the potential to overhaul New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (LAD).

“The religious tenets exception allowed St. Theresa’s to ...