Key Points In the June 10, 2020, National Labor Relations Board (Board) decision Bethany College , the Board reversed its own 2014 decision, Pacific Lutheran University , and held that the Board lacks jurisdiction over bona-fide religious educational institutions. The Board clarified how it will determine if the religious educational institution is bona fide such that it is not subject to the National Labor Relations Act (Act). The Board adopted a three-prong bright-line test that bars the exercise of Board jurisdiction over entities that: Hold themselves out to the public as a religious entity; Are non-profit institutions; and Are religiously affiliated. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to release a decision this summer defining the scope of the ministerial exception which bars ministers from suing their religious employers. The Board decision in Bethany College follows the 2020 U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decision, Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit v. NLRB , which criticized Pacific Lutheran University as being inconsistent with the seminal Supreme Court decision NLRB v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago , as we discussed here . The Board decision in Bethany College prioritizes religious educational institutions’ First Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution’s Religion […]
