Full 7th Circuit holds ministerial exemption blocks even hostile environment claims

As we have reported with greater frequency in recent years, courts dealing with employment discrimination suits against churches, synagogues, and other religious organizations have carved out an exemption that bars claims by “ministerial” employees challenging the employer’s hiring and firing decisions. The rationale behind the doctrine is grounded in the two religious prongs of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: the Free Exercise Clause protects a religious group’s right to shape its own faith and mission through its appointments, and the Establishment Clause prohibits government involvement in such ecclesiastical decisions. After a divided panel of the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to all Illinois employers) held in 2020 the ministerial exemption didn’t apply to hostile work environment claims, the full court recently reached the opposite conclusion.

Discord

Sandor Demkovich was hired in 2012 as the music director at St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, a Catholic church in Calumet City, Illinois. He is gay and, after same sex marriage became legal, he married his long-time partner. He was also overweight and suffered from diabetes and metabolic syndrome.