Author: Hans & Associates, P.C.
Attorneys Stephen D. Hans & Associates
The separation of church and state under the First Amendment of the Constitution met another recent challenge. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) brought a discrimination case on behalf of a minister/teacher against the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the second largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. The teacher Cheryl Perich claimed she was fired based on a disability, narcolepsy. However, the church claimed it fired her based on ministerial reasons, and that her claim violated the church’s First Amendment right.
The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled that churches and other religious groups have a ministerial exception to employment and discrimination laws. In this particular case, Hosanna-Tabor Church v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission , the teacher was also an ordained minister. Read More