In an important church-state case decided in January 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court has for the first time barred certain employment discrimination suits against employers of church-run or other religious organizations based on the autonomy granted to those employers under the First Amendment’s Establishment and Free Exercise of Religion clauses, which provide, in part, that "Congress should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
In Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, a unanimous decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court recognized a "ministerial exception" to federal protections against job discrimination to support "the interest of religious groups in choosing who will preach their beliefs, teach their faith and carry out their mission." The Court held that it is impermissible for the government to contradict a church organization’s employment decision about who can act as its minister, which is a right grounded in the First Amendment. The Court said it was expressing no view on whether the exception would prevent other employee lawsuits against religious organizations, including breach of contract or tortious conduct by the religious organization employers. That leaves for another day questions of religious organization employer liability in wage claims, sexual harassment or other various injuries.
