In July 2020, in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru , the Supreme Court “ made it easier for religiously affiliated employers to discriminate” by concluding, 7-2, that two Catholic school teachers were ministers, not teachers. That ruling opened the door for thousands of Catholic school teachers to lose their day in court under all the antidiscrimination laws of the United States. Post Morrissey-Berru , two circuit courts have recently ruled in favor of the employee. The cases teach us that occasionally ministers have a chance at winning their antidiscrimination lawsuits. Their chances, however, are very limited. The Fifth Circuit The Fifth Circuit’s case involved Will McRaney , the Executive Director of the General Mission Board of the Baptist Convention for Maryland/Delaware (BCMD). The North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention (NAMB) was never McRaney’s employer. However, he interacted with NAMB over a dispute about his church’s refusal to adopt a strategic partnership agreement (SPA) agreed to by BCMD and NAMB without his involvement. As the court explained the lawsuit: McRaney alleges that NAMB intentionally made false statements about him to BCMD that resulted in his termination. Specifically, he alleges that NAMB falsely told BCMD that […]
