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Showing posts with label ministerial exemption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ministerial exemption. Show all posts

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Work for a Church or Religious School? You May Have No Civil Rights

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled last Wednesday on the so-called "ministerial exemption" to employment discrimination laws on Wednesday, finding that churches are allowed to discriminate. The exemption is something you won't find in Title VII or other discrimination laws, but is purely a creation of the courts.
While Title VII does have a limited exemption for religious organizations, it is narrow:
This subchapter shall not apply to a religious corporation, association, educational institution, or society with respect to the employment of individuals of a particular religion to perform work connected with the carrying on by such corporation, association, educational institution, or society of its activities.
The Americans With Disabilities Act has a similar exemption:
 
Religious entities:
(1) In general
This subchapter shall not prohibit a religious corporation, association, educational institution, or society from giving preference in employment to individuals of a particular religion to perform work connected with the carrying on by such corporation, association, educational institution, or society of its activities.
(2) Religious tenets requirement
Under this subchapter, a religious organization may require that all applicants and employees conform to the religious tenets of such organization.
In other words, Congress said that religious organizations can prefer to hire members of their own religion and comply with religious rules. That's it.

The Supreme Court broadened all religious organizations' rights to discriminate, saying . . . read more here in The Huffington Post.