As this issue of Church & State was going to press, the Supreme Court handed down a ruling in a church-state case curtailing the workplace rights of employees of religious organizations.

The high court ruled that religious organizations have the right to fire clergy at will, even when the firing is not tied to theology. The decision in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was unanimous.

The case dealt with a Michigan religious school that fired a teacher after a dispute over her medical condition. The school argued that Cheryl Perich served in a ministerial capacity and thus had no right to challenge her dismissal.

Americans United and other groups filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case noting that religious organizations have long had the right to limit employment to people who share their theology when those employees have clear religious duties – a concept known as the “ministerial exception.”

But, AU asserted, if the exception is interpreted too broadly, clergy could be fired for reasons that have nothing to do with theology and have no recourse to challenge the dismissals in court.

Look for a full analysis of the decision in the March Church & State.