Supreme Court Recognizes Ministerial Exception for the First Time
This is an important, important ruling. The Supreme Court finally and unanimously recognized–for the first time–the ministerial exception to anti-discrimination laws. How does this ruling apply to day-to-day life? It means that “ministerial” employees of a church cannot sue for employment discrimination. And, on the other hand, secular employees of a church can sue, in accordance with our government’s laws, for protection from unlawful discrimination and retaliation.
Next question: how can one distinguish between a “ministerial” employee and a “secular” employee of a church? Well, each case must be decided on a case-by-case basis. Although the Supreme Court decided that the ministerial exception applied in the case before it to a “called” teacher who held herself out as a minister of her church, it took care to note that “[t]he case before us is an employment discrimination suit brought on behalf of a minister, challenging her church’s decision to fire her. Today we hold only that the ministerial exception bars such a suit. We express no view on whether the exception bars other types of suits, including actions by employees alleging breach of contract or tortuous conduct by their religious employers. There will be time enough to address the applicability of the exception to other circumstances if and when they arise.”
For more information or for a consultation regarding your legal issues, please contact McCollum & Associates, LLC, at (301) 864-6070 or jmccollum@jmlaw.net.
Surprising Decision on Harassing Church Officials on Social Media
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently ruled
that the federal stalking statute (a criminal statute) was not violated when
a person used Twitter and other Internet websites (including a blog) over
8000 times to harass certain religious officials. The Court made this
decision because, “[e]ven though the Internet is the newest medium for
anonymous, uncomfortable expression touching on political or religious
matters, online speech is equally protected under the First Amendment . . .
.” The Court did point out, however, that certain forms of speech are not
“protected speech.” They include: (a) obscenity; (b) defamation; (c)
fraud; (d) incitement; (e) true threats; and (f) speech integral to criminal conduct.
For more information or for a consultation regarding your legal issues, please contact McCollum & Associates, LLC, at (301) 864-6070 or jmccollum@jmlaw.net.
Churches and Zoning Battles
A recent case from the federal appellate court over California demonstrates the potential effectiveness of one federal statute when churches encounter unlawful resistance to their presence in communities. The federal statute is called the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, otherwise known as RLUIPA. RLUIPA provides that any government land-use regulation cannot impose a “substantial burden on the religious exercise of a . . . religious assembly or institution” unless the “government demonstrates that imposition of the burden . . . is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest” and “is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.”
In the recent federal appellate case, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of a church that had its rezoning application and a conditional use permit denied when it sought to build new church facilities on certain industrial land. The church argued, correctly, that the city involved had violated its rights.
For more information or for a consultation regarding your legal issues, please contact McCollum & Associates, LLC, at (301) 864-6070 or jmccollum@jmlaw.net.
Churches and Guns
Usually this time of year, churches ask their members and visitors to bring food for Thanksgiving, clothing for the homeless, etc., to church. However, based on a new law in Wisconsin that is attracting much attention, churches may have to ask their members NOT to bring something to church—guns.
Wisconsin passed a law that permits its state residents to carry concealed weapons. Well, apparently Wisconsin’s legislators did not consider how this would affect churches. So, now various Wisconsin churches are requesting that their members and visitors not bring their concealed weapons to church, although they are apparently lawfully allowed to do so.
This is a serious matter. Over 230 persons have been murdered on church properties in the last 12 years—an average of almost 20 persons per year.
Does your church have a policy about carrying weapons—including guns–on its property or into its facilities?
No Boxing Allowed
This recent news items caught my attention. A church was sued in federal court in the lawsuit by members of a deceased person’s family because he allegedly died after participating in an unlicensed church-sponsored boxing match. This item caught my attention for at least two reasons:
(1) the unusual nature of the allegations and
(2) when I was much younger and a member of a church-sponsored Boy Scout troop, I participated in boxing matches in the basement of the church.
I do not have any idea whether the church in this recent lawsuit is responsible for the young man’s death. However, one lesson here is to make certain that your church follows the appropriate laws regarding licensing of events that it may sponsor or hold.
For more information or for a consultation regarding your legal issues, please contact McCollum & Associates, LLC, at (301) 864-6070 or jmccollum@jmlaw.net.
New Type of Maryland Corporation: The Benefit Corporation
Maryland has passed a law that allows the formation of a new type of
corporation: the benefit corporation. Maryland’s corporate law has always
allowed for the formation of various types of corporations. They include
nonstock (nonprofit corporations), professional service corporations,
religious corporations and good old-fashioned profit corporations
(corporations with a fiduciary duty to maximize profits).
So what is a benefit corporation? It is a profit corporation that provides
“general public benefits” (“a material, positive impact on society and the
environment, as measured by a third-party standard, through activities that
promote a combination of specific public benefits”). ”Specific public
benefits” include, but are not limited to, promoting economic opportunity
for individuals or communities beyond the creation of jobs in the normal
course of business, and improving human health.”
It will be interesting to see if persons decide that this new type of
corporation allows them to reconcile the conflict that often exists between
working for public good while pursuing private profit.
For more information or for a consultation regarding your church’s business structure, please contact McCollum & Associates, LLC, at (301) 864-6070 or jmccollum@jmlaw.net.
Ministerial Exception in the Context of a Claim of Sexual Harassment
The Court of Appeals of Maryland recently issued a new decision that discusses the ministerial exception in the context of a claim of sexual harassment. In brief, the ministerial exception is based in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and is designed to allow churches to manage their affairs without governmental interference. As related to claims of employment discrimination such as sexual harassment, the Court of Appeals indicated that such disputes between a minister and his or her church should be treated like other non-church employment disputes. In sum, the Court of Appeals concluded and held that “the ministerial exception does not operate to bar every claim of sexual harassment asserted against church officials by a former ministerial employee.” Accordingly, in a lengthy opinion, the Court of Appeals proceeded to allow certain claims and to disallow others.
For more information or for a consultation regarding your legal issues, please contact McCollum & Associates, LLC, at (301) 864-6070 or jmccollum@jmlaw.net.
Church Official and Church Criminally Indicted for Failing to Report Suspected Child Abuse
The Catholic Church has been embroiled in sex abuse scandals for decades.
However, the scandals took a new turn recently. A diocese of the Catholic
Church and one of its bishops were indicted (criminally charged) for failing
to report suspected child abuse (a priest accused of taking pornographic
photographs of girls). The bishop was charged because he knew of the
photographs, but reportedly did not turn them over to the police for 5-6
months. In the meantime, the priest continued to have access to children at
church events.
For more information or for a consultation regarding your legal issues, please contact McCollum & Associates, LLC, at (301) 864-6070 or jmccollum@jmlaw.net.
Major Upcoming Supreme Court Decision on the “Ministerial Exception”
The Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in a case that
could potentially affect many churches and church-related organizations. The basic facts are as follows. A former teacher filed a lawsuit against her former employer, a Christian school. She alleged that the school discriminated against her in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“Act”). In the trial court, the school won. On appeal, Court of Appeals stated that (1) a school affiliated with the Lutheran Church was not a ministerial employee and (2) the school’s claim that the teacher’s ADA discrimination claim involved church doctrine did not require the court to evaluate or interpret religious doctrine. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling during its current term, i.e., before July 2012.
This legal principle involved in this case is known as the ministerial exception. The ministerial exception is a legal doctrine that precludes subject matter jurisdiction (the court’s ability to rule regarding a legal claim) over issues involving the employment relationship between a religious institution and its ministerial employees based on the institution’s constitutional right to be free from judicial interference in the selection of those employees. Undergirding this legal doctrine is the judicial recognition of the importance of the relationship between a church and its ministers.
For this exception to apply, the employee must be “ministerial,” i.e., teaching, spreading the faith, church governance, supervision of a religious order, supervision or participation in religious ritual or worship, or ”important to the spiritual and pastoral mission of the church.” Based on the questions that the Justices asked during oral argument, the decision should be very, very interesting.
For more information or for a consultation regarding your legal issues, please contact McCollum & Associates, LLC, at (301) 864-6070 or jmccollum@jmlaw.net.
New Child Neglect Law as Related to Churches
Effective on October 1, 2011, Maryland has changed its criminal child neglect law. In sum, the new revised law will prohibit a parent, family member, household member or other person who has permanent or temporary care or custody or responsibility for supervision of a minor from neglecting the minor. As related to churches, it specifically indicates that the law’s notification/reporting provision for health practitioners, police officers, educators and human service workers and other persons shall not include ministers of the gospel, clergymen or priests of established churches of any denomination under certain circumstances. For more information or for a consultation regarding your legal issues, please contact McCollum & Associates, LLC, at (301) 864-6070 or jmccollum@jmlaw.net.
