Supreme Court Says Ministerial Exception Shields Church From Retaliatory Firing Claim

The First Amendment’s establishment and free exercise clauses create a “ministerial exception” that bars a discriminatory termination lawsuit brought against a religious organization by a former elementary school teacher who is a Lutheran “commissioned minister,” the U.S. Supreme Court held unanimously Jan. 11 (Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & Sch. v. EEOC).

The high court reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s vacatur of summary judgment to Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School on its former employee Cheryl Perich’s retaliatory termination claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

By imposing an unwanted minister on a religious ...