Can a religious school fire a lay teacher over a cancer diagnosis or her age, and be immune from discrimination law?

Two Catholic elementary schools said yes. Two federal district courts agreed. I handled both appeals in the Ninth Circuit, and the Ninth Circuit reversed in both cases.

The schools then petitioned the United States Supreme Court. I did not represent the teachers at the Supreme Court. In 2020, the Court granted review, consolidated the two cases, and reversed the Ninth Circuit 7–2 — setting the national standard that governs today.

This page describes appellate work I performed and a decision that went the other way. It's here because the rule that came out of these cases affects anyone who works for a religious employer, and because most people have never heard of it.

What Happened

Kristen Biel taught fifth grade at St. James Catholic School in Torrance. She had a liberal studies degree and a teaching credential — no religious credentials, no ministerial training, no religious requirements attached to her position. About six months after a positive performance evaluation, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and told the school she would need time off for surgery and chemotherapy. Weeks later she was told her contract would not be renewed. She sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Agnes Morrissey-Berru had taught for years at Our Lady of Guadalupe School in Hermosa Beach. She was demoted and her contract was not renewed, and she alleged the school was replacing her with a younger teacher. She sued under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

Both schools moved for summary judgment on the same ground: the First Amendment's ministerial exception, which bars employment discrimination claims by employees who serve a religious function. Both district courts granted it. Neither case reached a fact-finder on what actually happened.

The Ninth Circuit Appeals

I handled both appeals.

In Biel, the Ninth Circuit reversed in a published opinion, holding that under the totality-of-the-circumstances test from Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. EEOC (2012), the ministerial exception did not bar her claim. The court pointed to what the record actually showed: Biel had no religious credentials, training, or ministerial background; there was no religious component to her degree or teaching credential; the school imposed no religious requirements on her position; and the school never held her out as a minister. The EEOC appeared as amicus curiae supporting her position.

St. James sought rehearing en banc. The full Ninth Circuit denied it — over a dissent joined by nine judges, who wrote that the panel had embraced the narrowest construction of the ministerial exception and split from other circuits. That dissent is what made the case certiorari-worthy.

In Morrissey-Berru, the Ninth Circuit likewise reversed summary judgment.

What the Supreme Court Did — and What It Means That I Lost There

The schools petitioned for certiorari. The Supreme Court granted it, consolidated the two cases, and reversed 7–2 in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, 591 U.S. 732 (2020). Justice Alito wrote for the Court. Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg dissented.

The Court held that a formal ministerial title is not required, and that courts should look to what an employee actually does. Where a teacher at a religious school is entrusted with educating students in the faith, the First Amendment forecloses adjudication of her employment discrimination claim — regardless of her title, credentials, or training.

The teachers lost. The rule announced in that decision is now controlling national law, and it is broader than the rule the Ninth Circuit had applied in the appeals I handled.

Why This Matters to You

If you work at a religious school, a church, a synagogue, a mosque, or a faith-based nonprofit, this is the most consequential employment rule almost nobody has heard of — and it may apply to you whether or not anyone ever told you so.

You do not need a title. You do not need ordination. You do not need religious training. Under Our Lady of Guadalupe, what matters is the function you perform. If teaching the faith, leading prayer, or religious formation is part of your job — even part of it — a court may find the ministerial exception applies and dismiss your discrimination claim before anyone examines what your employer did.

That does not mean you have no options. It means the analysis is fact-specific, it turns on your actual duties, and it is worth understanding before you rely on a claim that may not exist.

Does the Ministerial Exception Apply to You?

There is no simple test, and the answer depends on what you actually do — not your title. But the questions courts ask look like this:

Factors that make the exception more likely to apply:

• You teach religion, or religion is part of a curriculum you deliver
• You lead or supervise prayer, worship, chapel, or religious observance
• You prepare students for sacraments, confirmation, or religious milestones
• Your job description or contract references religious formation, faith, or ministry
• You were required to be a member of the faith to hold the position
• You attended religious training your employer provided or required

Factors that make it less likely to apply:

• Your duties are administrative, clerical, custodial, technical, medical, or food service
• You teach only secular subjects with no religious component
• You have no role in worship, prayer, or religious instruction
• Your employer imposes no faith requirement on your position
• Your claim is for unpaid wages, overtime, or meal and rest breaks rather than discrimination

A few things worth knowing:

The exception is a defense the employer must raise and establish. It does not apply automatically because your employer is religious.

It does not cover everyone who works for a religious institution. A hospital's billing clerk, a school's maintenance worker, a parish bookkeeper — these positions generally sit in a different place than a teacher responsible for religious instruction.

Courts have not treated every claim type identically, and the law in this area continues to develop.

If you're unsure which side of this line you're on, that's exactly the question worth fifteen minutes.

What I'll Tell You

The honest answer in this area is that it's fact-specific, and the facts that matter are the ones about your job — not your employer's.

So if you call me, one of three things happens. I'll tell you the exception probably doesn't apply to your position and what to do next. I'll tell you it probably does, and why spending a year finding that out the hard way isn't worth it. Or I'll tell you it's genuinely close, and what facts would decide it.

I made this argument at the circuit level in the cases that set the current standard, and I lost at the Supreme Court. That's exactly why I'd rather give you a straight answer in fifteen minutes than an optimistic one over six months.

Book a free 15-minute case review · 805-630-3245

A Footnote to the Record

The principal who told Kristen Biel her contract would not be renewed — citing concerns about classroom management — was Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, who led St. James Catholic School for 28 years.

In 2021, Kreuper pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud and money laundering. She admitted that over a ten-year period ending in September 2018, she embezzled $835,339 from St. James, diverting tuition checks and donations into accounts she controlled and falsifying reports to conceal it. Prosecutors noted the amount was equivalent to the annual tuition of fourteen students every year. She was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison and ordered to pay $825,338 in restitution.

The ministerial exception does not turn on whether an employer's stated reasons are true. Once it applies, courts do not reach that question at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the ministerial exception?

It is a First Amendment doctrine that bars employees who perform religious functions from bringing employment discrimination claims against their religious employers. It applies to harassment, retaliation, disability, age, and other discrimination claims alike.

Do I have to have the title "minister" for it to apply?

No. Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru (2020) held that a formal title is not required. Courts look to what the employee actually does.

I'm a lay teacher at a religious school. Does it apply to me?

It may. The question is whether your duties include educating or forming students in the faith. Both teachers in the consolidated cases were lay teachers without religious credentials, and the Supreme Court held the exception applied to them.

Can I sue a church, temple, or mosque for discrimination?

Sometimes. Whether you can depends on whether the ministerial exception applies to your position — which turns on the religious functions your job involves, not on the employer's religious character. An employee with no religious duties generally stands in a different position than one responsible for religious instruction or worship.

I was fired from a Catholic school. Do I have a case?

It depends on what you taught and what your duties included. Under Our Lady of Guadalupe, a teacher entrusted with educating students in the faith is likely covered by the ministerial exception even without a religious title or training. A teacher with no religious instructional role may not be.

Does the ministerial exception apply to wage and hour claims?

Courts have not treated all claim types identically, and this area continues to develop. A wage claim may stand on different footing than a discrimination claim. It's worth asking specifically rather than assuming.

Does it apply at religious hospitals and faith-based nonprofits?

The doctrine is not limited to churches and schools, but it turns on the employee's function. A chaplain and a billing clerk at the same religious hospital may be treated very differently.

My employer says the ministerial exception bars my claim. Is that the end of it?

Not necessarily. It's a defense the employer must raise and support, and it's frequently asserted more broadly than the law supports. Whether it actually applies to your position is a fact-specific question.

How long do I have to file?

The deadlines are the same as for any discrimination claim and they're shorter than most people expect — and in California, some claims require an administrative filing first. The ministerial exception does not extend any of them.

Counsel

Andrew S. Pletcher handled both appeals for the teachers in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit — Biel v. St. James School and Morrissey-Berru v. Our Lady of Guadalupe School — obtaining reversal of summary judgment in both cases.

Mr. Pletcher did not represent the teachers before the United States Supreme Court. After the Ninth Circuit denied rehearing en banc, the schools petitioned for certiorari. The Supreme Court granted review, consolidated the cases, and reversed the Ninth Circuit 7–2 in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, 591 U.S. 732 (2020).

Coverage

• Supreme Court opinion — Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru (2020)
• Ninth Circuit opinion — Biel v. St. James School, 911 F.3d 603 (2018), via Justia
• Order denying rehearing en banc, with dissent (9th Cir. 2019)
• EEOC amicus brief in support of Biel
• SCOTUSblog — St. James School v. Biel case file
• NBC Los Angeles — Supreme Court decision coverage
• CourtListener — Biel v. St. James School
• U.S. Department of Justice — sentencing of St. James principal
• Washington Post — St. James principal sentenced

Do You Work for a Religious School or Faith-Based Employer?

If something has gone wrong at work and your employer is a church, religious school, or faith-based organization, the rules are different — and the difference isn't obvious from the outside. Fifteen minutes will tell you whether the ministerial exception is likely to apply to your situation.

Book a free 15-minute case review · 805-630-3245

Free California workers' rights guide at employeesfriend.com

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The Ninth Circuit decisions described on this page were reversed by the United States Supreme Court in 2020. This page is general information about the law, not legal advice. Attorney advertising — Pletcher Law, APC. Andrew S. Pletcher, State Bar No. 299437.