ministerial exception

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We invite you to review our newly-posted January 2019 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include:

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Biel v. St. James School, 2018 WL 6597221 (9th Cir. 2018)

Kristen Biel was fired from her fifth grade teaching position at St. James Catholic School after she told the school that she had breast cancer and would need to miss work to undergo chemotherapy. Following her termination, Biel alleged that the school had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The district…

Headley v. Church of Scientology Int’l, 687 F.3d 1173 (9th Cir. 2012)

Marc and Claire Headley were ministers in the Sea Organization (“Sea Org”), which is an elite religious order of the Church of Scientology. The Sea Org demands much of its ministerial members, renders strict discipline, imposes stringent ethical and lifestyle constraints and goes to great efforts to retain clergy and to preserve…

Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. EEOC, 565 U.S. ___, 132 S. Ct. 680 (2012)

Cheryl Perich was a “called” teacher for the church and also had the formal title of “Minister of Religion, Commissioned.” After Perich developed narcolepsy, the church replaced her with a lay teacher and eventually terminated her employment for “insubordination and disruptive behavior.” Perich filed a claim with the…

We invite you to review our newly-posted January 2012 California Employment Law Notes – a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include:

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Henry v. Red Hill Evangelical Lutheran Church, 201 Cal. App. 4th 1041 (2011)

Sara Henry taught preschool children at the Red Hill Evangelical Church of Tustin; she was also the director of the preschool. Henry, who is Catholic, was not required to be Lutheran (only a practicing Christian) and was aware of the “Christian-based, Bible-based values of the school.” Henry was married when she…

Rosas v. Corporation of the Catholic Archbishop, 627 F.3d 1288 (2010) (en banc)

Cesar Rosas and Jesus Alcazar were Catholic seminarians who sued the Corporation of the Catholic Archbishop for, among other things, failure to pay them overtime wages under Washington state law. Based on the ministerial exception, the district court dismissed the case on the pleadings. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit…

Rosas v. The Corporation of the Catholic Archbishop of Seattle, 598 F.3d 668 (9th Cir. 2010)

Cesar Rosas and Jesus Alcazar were Catholic seminarians who sued the Corporation of the Catholic Archbishop for, among other things, failure to pay them overtime wages under Washington state law. Based on the ministerial exception, the district court dismissed the case on the pleadings. The Ninth Circuit affirmed,…