News & Analysis as of August 16, 2025

First Amendment › Religious Institutions › Employment Discrimination

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The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the government from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech... more +

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the government from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech or the press, preventing citizens from peacefully assembling, or interfering with citizens' ability to petition the government for redress of their grievances. The First Amendment is one of the most sacred aspects of the American legal tradition and has spawned a vast body of jurisprudence and commentary. less -

A Day of Near-Unanimity on Six Important Cases - SCOTUS Today

Epstein Becker & Green on 6/6/2025

As this term draws to a close, the U.S. Supreme Court is getting busy in reducing its inventory of pending cases. Yesterday, six of them were resolved....more

New Jersey Supreme Court limits the LAD's reach as to religious institutions, but will it last?

Goldberg Segalla on 9/8/2023

Key Takeaways - The New Jersey Supreme Court recently ruled that the Law Against Discrimination (LAD) contained an express exception for religious organizations that make employment decisions based on employment criteria...more

Religious Institutions Update: January 2023

Holland & Knight LLP on 1/10/2023

Vaccination Mandate Conforms with First Amendment In Kane v. De Blasio, No. 21 Civ. 7863, 21 Civ. 8773, 2022 WL 3701183 (S.D. N.Y. Aug. 26, 2022), the district court ruled that New York City Department of Education employees...more

Seventh Circuit Holds That Ministerial Exception Bars Hostile Work Environment Claims

Husch Blackwell LLP on 7/28/2021

On July 9, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit sitting en banc overturned a split panel decision in the case, Sandor Demkovich v. St. Andrew the Apostle Parish et al., and issued a 6-3 opinion holding that...more

Separation of Church and State: The Application of the Ministerial Exception to Certain Employment Laws

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 1/26/2021

It is common knowledge among many human resources professionals that religious organizations generally are protected from religious discrimination lawsuits under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and most state...more

Religious Schools Were Permitted To Terminate Employment Of Teachers Despite Claims Of Discrimination

Proskauer - California Employment Law on 8/5/2020

Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, 591 U.S. ___, 2020 WL 3808420 (2020) - Agnes Morrissey-Berru and Kristen Biel worked as elementary school teachers at, respectively, Our Lady of Guadalupe School and St....more

The Supreme Court - December 18, 2019

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on 12/19/2019

Today, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in the following cases: Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, No. 19-267; St. James School v. Biel, No. 19-348: Whether the First Amendment’s...more

Are Your Teachers Ministers?

Fisher Phillips on 12/3/2019

Religious schools should be aware of the ministerial exception, its potential application to certain employment decisions, and the fact that courts across the country may interpret and apply it very differently. The United...more

Ninth Circuit Narrowly Construes The First Amendment’s Ministerial Exception For Religious Institution Employers

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 7/24/2019

Seyfarth Synopsis: In Biel v. St. James School, the Ninth Circuit once again split from other circuit courts, this time by narrowly construed an affirmative defense known as the “ministerial exception” that bars claims of...more

Religious Institutions Update: September 2018 - Lex Est Sanctio Sancta

Holland & Knight LLP on 9/26/2018

Key Cases - Establishment Challenge to Presidential Proclamation Subject to Rational Basis Review - In Trump v. Hawaii, 138 S.Ct. 2392 (2018), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the lowest level of constitutional...more

Cue the Organ Music: Court Administers the Ministerial Exception to Music Minister

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 8/7/2018

Can an organist really be considered a church minister? In a detailed and unique opinion, an Illinois federal court applied the First Amendment’s religious clauses to a church employee who claimed he had been discriminated...more

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