Fourth Circuit Expands Ministerial Exception for Religious Employees
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APPLIES TO All Employers with Employees in MD, NC, SC, VA and WV |
EFFECTIVE May 8, 2024 |
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Quick Look
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Discussion
In Billard v. Charlotte Catholic High School, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that lay educators within religious schools may be subject to the ministerial exception to Title VII employment discrimination, even when not working in the capacity as an ordained priest or engaging in religious teachings.
In this case, the plaintiff was a drama and English teacher formerly employed by the Charlotte Catholic High School. The parties agreed that the plaintiff was not an ordained priest in the Catholic Church, and instead a “lay” teacher. However, the teacher’s lessons adhered to religious doctrine and the teacher worked closely with the school’s religious instructors to ensure continuity in messaging to students. The teacher openly identified as a gay male and when the school learned of the teacher’s desire to enter into a same-sex marriage, the teacher was not invited to return to his teaching position with the school during the following year. The teacher sued the school under Title VII.
In granting judgment in favor of the teacher, the district court stated that, had the school raised the issue, the plaintiff would not have been considered a “minister” subject to the ministerial exception to federal civil rights claims. The United States Supreme Court first recognized the ministerial exception in 2012 in the Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission case, finding that a faith institution’s “ministers” are exempt from federal civil rights laws, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, due to First Amendment protections for free exercise of religion. The Supreme Court’s subsequent decision in a 2020 case titled Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru further expanded the ministerial exception to include any employee that advances a religious institution’s mission.
In deciding the Billard case, the Fourth Circuit reasoned that generally, any employee that is advancing the religious teachings of a religious institution is a “minister” exempt from federal civil rights laws. In reaching this conclusion, the court stated that, “Billard falls in precisely the category of people whose ministerial status Our Lady of Guadalupe seems most likely to affect: educators in religious schools who primarily teach secular subjects.” In reaching this decision, the Fourth Circuit expands the number of employment decisions that may be subject to the ministerial exception.
Action Items
- Consult with legal counsel on application of ministerial exception to specific positions and/or employees.
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