I gen­er­al­ly addressed reli­gion dis­crim­i­na­tion claims in a sep­a­rate arti­cle today. This par­ti­cle address­es a very impor­tant aspect of those types of cas­es, the “min­is­te­r­i­al excep­tion” which effec­tive­ly pre­cludes claims of dis­crim­i­na­tion against reli­gious orga­ni­za­tions where the role of the plain­tiff involves “min­is­te­r­i­al duties”. More about what that means below.

What is the ministerial exception?

The min­is­te­r­i­al excep­tion is a judi­cial­ly cre­at­ed doc­trine under U.S. law that exempts cer­tain employ­ment deci­sions made by reli­gious orga­ni­za­tions from scruti­ny under employ­ment dis­crim­i­na­tion statutes. Root­ed in the First Amendment’s guar­an­tees of the free exer­cise of reli­gion and the pro­hi­bi­tion against gov­ern­men­tal estab­lish­ment of reli­gion, the min­is­te­r­i­al excep­tion rec­og­nizes that reli­gious insti­tu­tions have a con­sti­tu­tion­al right to choose their min­is­ters with­out gov­ern­ment interference.

In essence, the doc­trine pre­vents courts from adju­di­cat­ing claims that would require them to eval­u­ate the qual­i­fi­ca­tions of reli­gious lead­ers, the duties they per­form, or the valid­i­ty of reli­gious doc­trines. As a result, when an employee’s role with­in a reli­gious orga­ni­za­tion is deemed to be min­is­te­r­i­al, courts gen­er­al­ly decline to apply employ­ment dis­crim­i­na­tion laws—such as Title VII of the Civ­il Rights Act of 1964, the Amer­i­cans with Dis­abil­i­ties Act (ADA), or the Age Dis­crim­i­na­tion in Employ­ment Act (ADEA)—to dis­putes over that individual’s employment.

Con­tin­ue read­ing The Min­is­te­r­i­al Excep­tion for Reli­gion Dis­crim­i­na­tion Claims →

Reli­gious dis­crim­i­na­tion in the work­place is a grow­ing issue in employ­ment law, affect­ing both employ­ers and employ­ees. With an increas­ing­ly diverse work­force, under­stand­ing legal pro­tec­tions and oblig­a­tions regard­ing reli­gious beliefs and prac­tices is essen­tial. Let’s dive into how fed­er­al and state laws han­dle reli­gious dis­crim­i­na­tion and what both employ­ers and employ­ees should know.

What Is Religious Discrimination?

Reli­gious dis­crim­i­na­tion occurs when an employ­er treats an employ­ee unfa­vor­ably because of their reli­gious beliefs or prac­tices. This includes:

• Hir­ing and fir­ing deci­sions based on religion.
• Deny­ing pro­mo­tions, rais­es, or job assign­ments due to reli­gious beliefs.
• Harass­ment relat­ed to an employee’s faith.
• Fail­ure to pro­vide rea­son­able accom­mo­da­tions for reli­gious practices.

Fed­er­al law pro­hibits reli­gious dis­crim­i­na­tion under Title VII of the Civ­il Rights Act of 1964, which applies to employ­ers with 15 or more employ­ees (42 U.S.C. § 2000e‑2). West Virginia’s Human Rights Act pro­vides sim­i­lar pro­tec­tions at the state lev­el and applies to employ­ers with 12 or more employ­ees with­in West Vir­ginia (W. Va. Code § 16B-17–9).

Con­tin­ue read­ing Reli­gious Dis­crim­i­na­tion in the Work­place: Rights and Respon­si­bil­i­ties →