Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 565 U.S. 171 (2012), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court unanimously ruled that federal discrimination laws do not apply to religious organizations' selection of religious leaders.

Background

In 1999, Cheryl Perich started teaching at Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School, an affiliate of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod in Redford, Michigan. In addition to other duties, Perich led students in prayer and taught a religion class several days a week. In 2004, Perich left on disability and was diagnosed with narcolepsy. In 2005, after she was cleared by her doctors to go back to work, the school told her that it already hired someone else. Perich threatened to file suit, and the school promptly fired her for "insubordination and disruptive behavior". Perich sued for unlawful dismissal under the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

Opinion of the Court

All nine Supreme Court justices agreed with the decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts that "the Establishment Clause prevents the Government from appointing ministers, and the Free Exercise Clause prevents it from interfering with the freedom of religious groups to select their own". Moreover, because the respondent, in this case, was a minister within the meaning of the ministerial exception, the First Amendment requires dismissal of her employment discrimination suit against her religious employer.