The Supreme Court decided on June 12 not to hear the claim of a Christian school in Colorado that it cannot be sued for firing a teacher who accused the school, parents, and students of racism.
The school argued that because it is a religious institution it is beyond the reach of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The familiar amendment begins, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
The case involves the so-called ministerial exception that the Supreme Court recognized in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Employment Opportunity Division (2012). The exception prevents employees who carry out religious functions from suing church bodies….