As a general matter, courts try to stay out of employment discrimination cases filed against religious organizations. Originally, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 shielded religious organizations from religious discrimination claims by employees. Later, courts adopted the idea of a “ministerial exception” to protect religious organizations from most employment discrimination lawsuits by employees who perform religious functions. The reason for this is the concern that getting involved with employment policies and decisions would run afoul of the First Amendment bar on excessive government entanglement with religion.
The ministerial exception has been applied to any employee of a religious organization that provides services to the employer in some sort of religious capacity. The ministerial exception applies only to employees performing religious functions, but it bars all employment-law claims. Questions have traditionally centered on whom the ministerial exception applied to, and how it should be applied. These questions have been answered inconsistently across the circuit courts.
