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Supreme Court expands protections for religious institutions against discrimination lawsuits

Supreme Court expands protections against job discrimination claims for religious institutions
Posted at 7:20 AM, Jul 08, 2020
and last updated 2020-07-08 13:22:59-04

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of expanding a clause that prevents the application of anti-discrimination laws from religious institutions.

In a 7-2 decision, with liberal justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor dissenting, the court expanded the "ministerial exception," siding with a California Catholic school that did not renew the contracts of two teachers.

In the case of Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrisey-Berru, the teachers claimed they were discriminated against because they were released from their contracts after they did not receive certification in a Catholic teaching course. The teacher later sued, saying she had been discriminated against because of her age.

However, the citing precedent from the landmark 2014 Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. case, the court ruled that the school and other such institutions are protected from discrimination lawsuits.