Chicago Court Rules That Catholic School Can Limit Staff Based on Beliefs
A former guidance counselor had sued the school because they didn’t renew her contract after she revealed she was in a same-sex marriage.
A federal court in Chicago unanimously upheld the right of a religious school to make employment decisions that keep in step with its core religious beliefs.
The three judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled that Roncalli High School, a Catholic school in Indianapolis, Indiana, was within its right to dismiss a guidance counselor who revealed she was in a same-sex marriage.
Back in 2019, the school chose not to renew the contract of the co-director of its guidance department after she told officials at Roncalli of her same-sex marriage in 2018. This went against the school’s long-held belief that marriage is between one man and one woman. Shortly after being informed her contract would not be picked up for the new school year, she sued the school claiming they had violated her rights protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The court dismissed the guidance counselor’s claim, saying the ministerial exception gives religious organizations and institutions the freedom to determine employee guidelines for workers who have roles that involve any sort of ministry aspect. The Court wrote in their decision that “employment discrimination suits [are barred] ‘when the employer is a religious group and the employee is one of the group’s ministers.’ This is what has long been called ‘the ministerial exception.’”
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The ruling this week marks the second time in less than a year this Court has ruled in favor of Roncalli High School in almost an identical set of circumstances. In 2018, the school chose not to renew the contract of another counselor who was also in a same-sex relationship. In both cases the court sided with the school on the basis that they were exercising “control over the selection of those who will personify its beliefs.”
The Court’s decision went on to say, “In determining whether an employee served a religious role, we show deference to the church…All arrows point one way…A religious school is entitled to limit its staff to people who will be role models by living the life prescribed by the faith.”
Main photo: Photo via Facebook
