Ministerial Exception — a legal doctrine applying to religious institutions that provides an exemption
from federal employment discrimination laws for practices that would otherwise
be considered discriminatory. The rationale for the ministerial exception is
that it prevents state interference with the governance of religious
institutions, which would violate the First Amendment to the U.S.
constitution's establishment and free exercise clauses. The ministerial
exception allows such institutions wide latitude in determining which persons
it chooses to employ and retain, even if otherwise discriminatory practices are
used in making these determinations. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2012 unanimously
upheld a church's right to terminate a lay teacher (but one who also taught
daily religion classes) in contravention of the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA), by means of the ministerial exception to that statute. (See
Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & Sch. v. EEOC, 2012
U.S. LEXIS 578 (Jan. 11, 2012).) One caveat to the ministerial exception is
that it applies only to employment discrimination laws, rather than to
all laws regulating employment. Accordingly, the ministerial exception would
not apply, for example, to allegations of sexual harassment or breach of an
employment contract.