Excerpt: The U.S. Supreme Court in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, held that the “ministerial exception” bars a school teacher from bringing employment discrimination claims against her religious employer. The Court’s ruling clearly grants religious institutions the freedom to employ (and terminate) employees who act as ministers of their faith. Yet the Court’s decision does not clearly delineate how a religious organization (or their employees) determines who is and who is not a “minister.”
Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
565 U.S. 171 (2012)
Primary coverage
Holding: Religious institutions have a First Amendment right to make employment decisions free from state interference through the ministerial exception doctrine.