January 11, 2012 – New York – AJC welcomed a U.S. Supreme Court decision that affirms the ministerial exception to employment discrimination laws. The case, Hosanna Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, involved the firing an employee who was one of the group’s ministers.

“In a nation that treasures religious freedom, the unfettered right of religious institutions to decide who shall convey their religious messages is as much an element of church-state separation as the ban on government sponsorship of religious messages,” said Avital Blanchard, AJC Staff Attorney. 

The Supreme Court, in its decision today, said that “the interest of society in the enforcement of employment discrimination statutes is undoubtedly important.  But so, too, is the interest of religious groups in choosing who will preach their beliefs, teach their faith and carry out their mission.”

In considering a variety of factors, the Court chose to use an objective assessment of the employee’s duties within the religious organization and overturned the Sixth Circuit decision that the ministerial exception did not apply in this case.

Ministerial exception “ensures that the authority to select and control who will minister to the faithful is… the church’s alone,” the Court ruled.

AJC, in an amicus brief, had urged adoption of a test based on a holistic evaluation of the employee’s overall duties and urged rejection of both the quantitative analysis applied by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and the reliance on subjective labeling argued by the employer.

Joining AJC in the brief was the Union for Reform Judaism. The brief was prepared for AJC by the firm of Hogan Lovells US LLP.

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