Hosanna-tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, et al. (565 U.S. 171)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 11, 2012 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 565 U.S. 171 · 132 S. Ct. 694
- Decided
- January 11, 2012
- Term
- October Term 2011
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Roberts
- Issue area
- First Amendment
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
- Constitutional ruling
- Federal law held unconstitutional
Opinion excerpt
CHIEF Justice Roberts delivered the opinion of the Court. Certain employment discrimination laws authorize employees who have been wrongfully terminated to sue their employers for reinstatement and damages. The question presented is whether the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment bar such an action when the employer is a religious group and the employee is one of the group’s ministers. I A Petitioner Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School is a member congregation of the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod, the second largest Lutheran denomination in America. Hosanna-Tabor operated a small school in Redford, Michigan, offering a “Christ-centered education” to students in kindergarten through eighth grade. 582 F. Supp. 2d 881, 884 (ED Mich. 2008) (internal quotation marks omitted). The Synod classifies teachers into two categories: “called” and “lay.” “Called” teachers are regarded as having been called to their vocation by God through a congregation. To be eligible to receive a call from a congregation, a teacher must satisfy certain academic requirements. One way of doing so is by completing a “colloquy” program at a Lutheran college or university. The program requires candidates to take eight courses of theological study, obtain the endorsement of their local Synod district, and pass an oral examination by a faculty committee. A teacher…
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