Category: Churches and Religious Schools
DEFENSES AGAINST CLAIMS BY FIRED TEACHERS
Religious schools and churches periodically terminate or discipline a teacher or other employee who violated tenets of the religion at issue, such as premarital cohabitation. Employers taking such actions have a complete defense to discrimination claims arising from such decisions based on the religion clauses of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the corresponding provisions of the Oregon Constitution. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides, in part, that “Congress shall make…
LIMITED VICARIOUS LIABILITY FOR “NON-EMPLOYEE AGENTS”
In 1999, the Oregon Supreme Court issued a landmark decision that made Oregon one of the few states that allow an employer to be held vicariously liable for an employee abusing a child. Fearing v. Bucher, 328 Oregon Supreme Court 367 (1999). This ruling was followed by a flood of child abuse lawsuits that resulted in the bankruptcy of the Catholic Archdiocese of Portland in the 2000s given that it could be held liable for…
MINISTERIAL EXCEPTION TO DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS BY TEACHERS
Teachers and other employees of religious schools sometimes sue for discrimination, including claims under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). The law, however, recognizes a ministerial exception to such claims based on the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states, in relevant part, that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The ministerial exception precludes application of employment discrimination statutes to claims concerning the employment…
RELIGIOUS DEFENSES TO CLAIMS CONCERNING SEXUAL ORIENTATION DISCRIMINATION – WHY THE “SWEET CAKES BY MELISSA” DISPUTE IS DIFFERENT
Oregon received national media attention earlier this year when its Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) announced in a January 2014 press release that a Gresham bakery violated the civil rights of a same-sex couple when it denied them service based on their sexual orientation. The couple filed a complaint against “Sweet Cakes by Melissa” under the Oregon Equality Act of 2007, a law that protects the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender Oregonians…
THE AUTHORITY TO EXPEL & DISCIPLINE STUDENTS
Religious schools periodically decide to expel a student for misconduct in the middle of a school year or to not re-enroll a student for the next school year. Parents and students sometimes respond with the threat of a lawsuit if the student is expelled. Religious schools facing this scenario should realize that they have much greater authority to expel a student than a public school, and, therefore, any such claim can be defeated. First, the…
WHEN CAN AN OREGON CHURCH OR RELIGIOUS SCHOOL BE HELD LIABLE FOR DEFAMATION CONCERNING THE FIRING OF AN EMPLOYEE?
Oregon churches and religious schools are sometimes faced with the dilemma of having to terminate a priest, pastor, teacher, or other employee and then answer questions from the congregation or other employees about why the person was let go. Churches and religious schools can feel torn between wanting to explain what happened and fearing civil liability for defamation to a person who is upset that they were fired. The Oregon Court of Appeals stated…
