Supreme Court shields religious schools from discrimination suits brought by teachers

  • Date: 08-Jul-2020
  • Source: CNBC
  • Sector:Education
  • Country:GCC
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Supreme Court shields religious schools from discrimination suits brought by teachers

A man walks past the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, June 25, 2020.

Al Drago | Reuters

The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 on Wednesday in favor of two religious schools that argued they should not have to face employment discrimination lawsuits brought by former teachers. 

The case concerned the "ministerial exception" to employment discrimination laws that protects religious employers from certain lawsuits brought by employees. It was brought by two Catholic schools in California that were hit with discrimination lawsuits by teachers whose employment was terminated.

"The religious education and formation of students is the very reason for the existence of most private religious schools, and therefore the selection and supervision of the teachers upon whom the schools rely to do this work lie at the core of their mission," Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court. 

"Judicial review of the way in which religious schools discharge those responsibilities would undermine the independence of religious institutions in a way that the First Amendment does not tolerate," he wrote.

Alito's opinion was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented. 

The schools argued that the ministerial exception prevented them