RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND DISCRIMINATION

Religious LibertySupreme Court
Written By Neal Hardin

SHOULD RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS HAVE CONTROL OVER WHO THEY HIRE AND FIRE?

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Key Facts

  • “Our Lady of Guadalupe School is a Transitional Kinder-8th grade Catholic school located in Hermosa Beach. A ministry of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, the school is committed to providing a faith-based education rooted in the Catholic tradition.” [1]

  • Agnes Deirdre Morrissey-Berru was a teacher at Our Lady of Guadalupe School and claimed that they “had demoted her and had failed to renew her contract in order to replace her with a younger teacher in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967.” [2]

  • It was claimed that she did not fall under the “ministerial exception” established by the 2012 Supreme Court case Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC, which bars ministers of religious organizations from bringing employment discrimination lawsuits against their employers.

  • The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the ministerial exception also applies to Morrisey-Berru (and to St. James School v. Biel, a case consolidated in this ruling). The Court stated, “There is abundant record evidence that they both performed vital religious duties, such as educating their students in the Catholic faith and guiding their students to live their lives in accordance with that faith.” Therefore, they are covered under the ministerial exception. [3]

Key Scriptures

  • Colossians 4:1 “Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.”

  • Luke 20:25 “He said to them, ‘Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.’”

  • 1 Peter 2:16-17 “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”

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Application

Our Lady of Guadalupe School and St. James School are both Catholic primary schools which seek to operate in a manner consistent with the Catholic faith and give the children in their care a faith-based education. Two teachers were fired, one at each school, and subsequently brought discrimination lawsuits against their respective former employers. One alleged she was fired due to her age and the other alleged she was fired after seeking a leave of absence to obtain breast cancer treatment. Both schools maintained that they did not renew their contracts for performance-based reasons. 

In a 7-2 majority, the Supreme Court ruled that “The First Amendment’s Religion Clauses foreclose the adjudication of Morrissey-Berru’s and Biel’s employment-discrimination claims” against their employers.” [4] This basically means that their discrimination lawsuits were dismissed. 

This ruling upholds a previous Supreme Court case Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC (2012), which established that the courts cannot interfere in employment disputes “involving those holding certain important positions with churches and other religious institutions.” [5] This principle of non-interference was called the “ministerial exception.” It allowed religious institutions such as these Catholic schools to hire and retain employees, such as teachers, who are significantly involved with promoting the faith and doctrine of the institution. This bolstered First Amendment protections for religious institutions “to decide for themselves, free from state interference, matters of church government as well as those of faith and doctrine.” [6]

What Does the Bible Say?

The Bible does not give specific commands regarding how religious based employers should operate in their hiring and firing practices. Nevertheless, there are a few generally applicable principles.

First, the Bible does affirm that, as Christians, we are to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's” (Luke 20:25). This verse is the essence of a biblical understanding of separation of church and state. The church and state occupy different spheres in society and each have their own God-ordained roles (Romans 13:1-7, 1 Peter 2:9-10). This means that, as a general rule, the government lets the church and other religious organizations operate in a manner consistent with their own beliefs and to be able to hire people who will promote those values in their work.

Second, the Bible instructs employers to treat their employees fairly and justly (Colossians 4:1). Of course, in the first century, this was described in master and servant terminology, so the parallel to our modern context is not always as apparent. However, based on the principle of loving our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31), it is a natural extension to include hired workers, as other parts of Scripture do (Malachi 3:5). 

Third, Christians need to be able to exercise their freedom responsibly. 1 Peter 2:16 says, “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.” In these cases, the question of why the women were truly fired was not definitively answered. Nevertheless, Christians and organizations seeking to operate in a Christian manner must be sure that their hiring and firing processes are free of unjust discrimination. Since the Court has upheld the ability of religious institutions to operate in a manner consistent with their beliefs, we should not use that freedom to practice unjust discrimination while hiding behind our legal protections.

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Conclusion

 The Supreme Court has ruled correctly in Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, upholding the right of religious schools to operate in a way consistent with their beliefs, including their hiring and firing practices. With this freedom, though, comes the responsibility to use it well and not engage in unfair practices while attempting to hide behind our legal rights. That will only breed suspicion towards religious institutions and hinder our ability to proclaim the gospel to a watching world.

Neal Hardin
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