## Facts

- A Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod congregation operated a parochial school that employed both “lay” teachers and “called” teachers; called teachers received the title “Minister of Religion, Commissioned” after religious training and a formal congregational call.
- Cheryl Perich began as a lay teacher, completed required religious coursework, and became a called teacher with the commissioned-minister title.
- Perich taught secular subjects and also taught religion, led students in daily prayer and devotional exercises, and took students to weekly chapel services, occasionally leading chapel.
- In 2004, Perich developed narcolepsy and took disability leave; after medical clearance to return, the school said it had arranged for another teacher and questioned her readiness.
- The congregation offered to pay part of her health insurance if she resigned her call; she refused and attempted to return to work, which the school treated as insubordination.
- After Perich stated she had contacted a lawyer and intended to assert legal rights, the congregation rescinded her call and terminated her, citing insubordination, disruptive behavior, and failure to follow internal dispute-resolution procedures.
- Perich filed an EEOC charge alleging retaliation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); the EEOC sued alleging she was fired for threatening to bring an ADA claim.

## Issues

1. Whether the First Amendment requires a “ministerial exception” that bars employment-discrimination suits by ministers against their religious employers.
2. Whether Perich qualified as a minister such that her ADA retaliation claim had to be dismissed.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court unanimously reversed the Sixth Circuit and required dismissal of the suit.
- The Court held that the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses require a ministerial exception barring employment-discrimination suits by ministers against their churches.
- The Court concluded Perich was a minister for purposes of the exception, so the ADA retaliation claim could not proceed.
- The Court declined to adopt a rigid test for minister status and expressed no view on whether the exception bars other categories of claims such as contract or tort actions.

## Legal Principles

- The Religion Clauses protect a religious organization’s authority to select and remove its ministers, limiting governmental and judicial interference with that relationship.
- The ministerial exception applies even when the claim arises under a neutral, generally applicable anti-discrimination statute, including an ADA retaliation theory.
- Minister status is evaluated through multiple considerations, including the employer’s religious designation and understanding of the position, the employee’s religious training and title, the employee’s acceptance and use of that title, and the religious functions the employee performs.
- The amount of time devoted to religious versus secular tasks is not dispositive where the employee is entrusted with important religious functions such as teaching the faith and leading worship practices.

## Conclusion

The Court held that the First Amendment requires a ministerial exception that bars the government from enforcing employment-discrimination laws in suits by ministers challenging their termination, and it applied that rule to dismiss an ADA retaliation claim brought on behalf of a commissioned minister-teacher against her church-run school.


Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & Sch. v. E.E.O.C., 565 U.S. 171 (2012)