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Supreme Court of the United States First Amendment Employment Discrimination

The United States Supreme Court is the highest court of the United States and is charged with interpreting federal law, including the United States Constitution. The Court's docket is largely discretionary... more +
The United States Supreme Court is the highest court of the United States and is charged with interpreting federal law, including the United States Constitution. The Court's docket is largely discretionary with only a limited number of cases granted review each term.  The Court is comprised of one chief justice and eight associate justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate to hold lifetime positions. less -
Epstein Becker & Green

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

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

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

The Supreme Court Update - June 5, 2025

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The Supreme Court of the United States issued six decisions today: Ames v. Ohio Dept. of Youth Services, No. 23-1039: This case addresses whether majority-group plaintiffs are held to a heighted evidentiary standard in...more

Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti,...

Losing My Religion? 8th Circuit Finds that Freedom of Religion is Not a Justification for Employee Conduct

The past few decades have seen a Supreme Court receptive to claims brought on the basis of freedom of religion. For example, in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (June 2014), the Supreme Court ruled that the Affordable Care...more

Cranfill Sumner LLP

Fourth Circuit Expands Exception for Religious Employees

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On May 8, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a monumental opinion in Billard v. Charlotte Catholic High School. Senior Judge Harris, joined by Judge Niemeyer, wrote the majority opinion....more

Jenner & Block

[Ongoing Program] CLE Relay – Session 7 – US Supreme Court Term in Review - June 27th, 10:00 am - 11:30 am PDT

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The CLE will discuss recent developments at the Court, including the fall-out from key decisions of last term, and recent high-profile discussion of the Court. The panel will also discuss prominent cases from the current...more

Proskauer - California Employment Law

Broadway Actor’s Race Discrimination Claims Sent Back to the Underworld in the Face of Producer’s First Amendment Rights

A federal court in New York has held that a Broadway musical’s casting decisions—specifically replacing one actor with another actor of a different race—are shielded by the First Amendment from employment discrimination...more

Goldberg Segalla

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

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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

Fox Rothschild LLP

Clear as Mud: Navigating In-School Employee Expression in the Wake of Kennedy v. Bremerton School District

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The Supreme Court ruled in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District on June 27, 2022 that a public high school violated the Constitution by restricting a football coach from engaging in “personal” but overt post-game, mid-field...more

Polsinelli

Supreme Court Issues Opinion on Religious Expression for Public Employees

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The Supreme Court addressed the intersection of the First Amendment’s Establishment and Free Speech clauses as they relate to a public employee’s personal religious expression when done in the public eye. In a 6-to-3...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Employment Implications Arising from Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

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The U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization on June 24, 2022, overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey and holding that there is no right to abortion in the U.S....more

Franczek P.C.

Supreme Court rules in favor of football coach who prayed on field after games

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On Monday June 27, the Supreme Court issued their ruling in the case Kennedy v. Bremerton School District. (We previously reported on this case.) In a 6-3 decision penned by Justice Neil Gorsuch, the conservative majority...more

Franczek P.C.

Supreme Court to decide case of football coach placed on leave for post-game prayers

Franczek P.C. on

On April 25, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, which we previously reported on. As you may recall, the case involves a high school football coach, Joseph Kennedy, who was...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

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

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

Payne & Fears

Key California Employment Law Cases: July 2020

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Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, 140 S. Ct. 2049 (2020) - Summary: The ministerial exception, grounded in First Amendment’s religion clauses, barred teachers’ employment discrimination claims where teachers...more

Hogan Lovells

United States Supreme Court recognizes employer religious freedoms in two recent decisions

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On July 8, 2020, the United States Supreme Court decided two cases addressing employers’ religious freedoms in very different contexts: one concerning whether religious school teachers could challenge adverse employment...more

Polsinelli

The U.S. Supreme Court Expands Protection for Religious Employers Against Discrimination Claims

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On July 8, 2020, the United States Supreme Court expanded the “ministerial exception” – a legal doctrine that exempts religious employers from certain discrimination laws in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru. ...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

SCOTUS Decision Impacts Discrimination Claims Against Religious Employers

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Key Points •The ministerial exception protects religious employers from government interference in internal employment disputes involving the selection, supervision, and removal of individuals who play an important role...more

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC

Supreme Court Applies "Ministerial Exception" to Teachers at Religious Schools

On July 8, 2020, the Supreme Court analyzed the ministerial exception for employees who allege employment discrimination claims for the first time in nearly a decade when it issued its decision in Our Lady of Guadalupe School...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Administering the Ministerial Exception: The Supreme Court Expands the Defense in Employment Cases

Although the issue of whether someone can sue a church for employment discrimination doesn’t come up often, in Our Lady Of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-­Berru, the Supreme Court expanded the ministerial exception that...more

Stoel Rives LLP

U.S. Supreme Court Affirms Religious Freedom in Government Benefits and Employment Decisions

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In three cases this term, the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed the freedom of religious institutions to access government benefits and to make employment decisions....more

Foley & Lardner LLP

U.S. Supreme Court Broadens Religious Employer Defense in Employment Discrimination Lawsuits

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On July 8, 2020, in a 7-2 opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court in Our Lady of Guadalupe Sch. v. Morrissey-Berru issued a victory for religious employers, seeking to limit the application of federal anti-discrimination laws. The...more

Amundsen Davis LLC

U.S. Supreme Court Extends The “Ministerial Exception” To Teachers At Religious Elementary Schools

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On July 8, 2020 the United States Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. civil rights laws barring discrimination on the job do not apply to most lay teachers at religious elementary schools. The decision extends earlier Supreme...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

U.S. Supreme Court Backs Broad Interpretation of the “Ministerial Exception,” Shielding Religious Employers From Employment...

On July 8, 2020, the Supreme Court gave religious employers wide leeway to hire and fire employees whose duties include religious instruction without having to worry about employment discrimination suits. In a 7-to-2...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Supreme Court: Ministerial Exception Bars Teachers' Age and Disability Discrimination Claims

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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, Nos. 19-267 and 19-348 (July 8, 2020), that the First Amendment ministerial exception doctrine bars courts from entertaining an age or...more

McGuireWoods LLP

U.S. Supreme Court Broadens Ministerial Exemption to Employment Discrimination Claims

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By a vote of 7-2, the U.S. Supreme Court held on July 8, 2020, that the “ministerial exception” under the religion clauses of the First Amendment forecloses employment-discrimination claims against religious schools by...more

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