Leslie G. Griffin (University of Houston Law Center) has posted Ordained Discrimination: The Cases Against the Ministerial Exception. The abstract follows. – ARH
On October 5, 2011 the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC. Hosanna-Tabor involves the ministerial exception, a court-created doctrine that holds that the First Amendment requires the dismissal of many employment discrimination cases against religious employers. The Fifth Circuit created the ministerial exception in 1972 when it dismissed Mrs. Billie McClure’s equal pay lawsuit against the Salvation Army. Since then, the federal and state courts have repeatedly expanded the exception to reject lawsuits by elementary and secondary school teachers, school principals, university professors, music teachers, choir directors, organists, administrators, secretaries, and communications managers alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Title VII, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family & Medical Leave Act, Workers’ Compensation laws and numerous state tort and contract laws.