Day Pitney Boston News, December 2011

Supreme Court Hears Argument Addressing Tension Between First Amendment Rights of Religious Organizations and Anti-Discrimination Laws

On October 6, 2011, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, one of the most important religious rights cases to reach the court in years. The question with which the court is grappling is whether the so-called ministerial exception?which has been applied by the courts to prevent certain employees from asserting discrimination and related claims against religious institution?is broad enough to bar claims by employees such as lay teachers whose jobs are largely, but not entirely, secular. Based on the constitutional requirements of the free exercise and establishment clauses of the First Amendment, the ministerial exception has been adopted by most state and federal courts. However, the definition of "minister" remains unsettled, and courts