Tag: Constitution
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…
The U.S. Supreme Court recently held that a town can open its board meetings with a Christian prayer without violating the First Amendment
In Town of Greece, New York v. Galloway, 134 Supreme Court 1811 (2014), the U.S. Supreme Court decided whether the town of Greece, New York, imposes an impermissible establishment of religion by opening its monthly board meetings with a Christian prayer. The Court held that no violation of the U.S. Constitution was shown. In Greece, a town of 94,000 in upstate New York, monthly town board meetings begin with an invocation by a local clergyman…