The First Amendment’s “ministerial exception” grants some religious organizations, such as houses of worship and religious schools, an exemption from civil rights laws that allows them to hire, manage, and fire their clergy as they choose.
But some religious extremists are trying to vastly expand this exception to apply to employees that have a minimal, if any, religious role, such as secular teachers, guidance counselors, and administrative staff. The result? Workers lose legal protection and can easily be fired for being LGBTQ, for the color of their skin or fighting racism, for being disabled or sick, or even just approaching retirement age.
The Supreme Court expanded the exemption in 2012 and 2020. AU fights to protect non-ministerial employees of religious organizations from violations of their civil rights.
Shelly Fitzgerald, a guidance counselor for 15 years at her alma mater Catholic high school, was given an ultimatum: resign, dissolve her marriage to her wife, stay quiet and let her contract lapse at year’s end, or be fired. AU represents Shelly against her former school, which claims that it had a right to fire her despite her secular position and being protected by anti-discrimination laws.
AU is representing Gregg Tucker, a teacher and director of student life who was fired after he tried to address pervasive racism at the private Christian school in Colorado where he worked. His former school is claiming that Gregg, whose duties were predominantly secular, was covered by the ministerial exception.
In 2016, 18.5% of hospitals were religiously affiliated, with 9.4% being owned by a Catholic organization, 5.1% affiliated with a Catholic group, and 4% with a non-Catholic religious group. Expanding the ministerial exception could impact scores of nurses, doctors, and even the workers in the hospitals’ gift shop and strip employees of important civil rights protections.
Church-state separation is the foundation of religious freedom in the United States, protecting many of our most fundamental rights: LGBTQ equality, reproductive freedom, inclusive public education, and more. Now, those freedoms are under threat. Join our movement and pledge to uphold church-state separation.
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