Fired Teacher Prevented from Suing Religious School for Discrimination

Key point 8-10.1. The civil courts have consistently ruled that the First Amendment prevents the civil courts from applying employment laws to the relationship between a church and a minister.

A federal court in South Carolina ruled that the “ministerial exception” prevented a dismissed teacher at a religious school from suing the school for discrimination. A Christian school offers undergraduate, graduate, and seminary programs. The school considers itself a “religious ministry.” As a result, all of its programs, including its undergraduate and graduate programs, “emphasize spiritual development, biblical training, and ministry skills.” The school’s academic catalog describes the university as follows:

We are a dynamic university that trains Christians for global missions, full-time vocational Christian ministry in a variety of strategic professions, ...