Last term, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision about the interaction between the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment and federal employment discrimination laws. See Hosanna-Tabor Lutheran Church & Sch. v. EEOC, 132 S. Ct. 694 (2012). Yesterday, the Fifth Circuit had its first opportunity to apply the Hosanna-Tabor decision.
In Hosana-Tabor, the Supreme Court upheld the existence of a "ministerial exception" to federal employment discrimination laws. Although that exception had been widely recognized in the circuit courts, the Supreme Court had not yet had occasion to consider it. The ministerial exception recognizes that churches are entitled to make decisions about their ministers without interference from the government. Therefore, a minister cannot sue a church based on employment decisions. Of course, the key issue is whether a person was a "minister." The Supreme Court provided guidance about how the ministerial exception should apply.
Yesterday, the Fifth Circuit issued its decision in Cannata v. Catholic Diocese of Austin. Click here to download the opinion. The plaintiff had been employed as the Music Director at St. John Neumann Catholic Church. After he was fired, he sued the church and Catholic Diocese of Austin. Before the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Hosanna-Tabor, the district court granted a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(1) based on the ministerial exception.
The Fifth Circuit first noted that Hosana-Tabor held that the ministerial exception is an affirmative defense, not a jurisdictional bar. Therefore, although it was unclear at the time, the district court should have considered the motion under Rule 12(b)(6), instead of Rule 12(b)(1). But that distinction did not affect the Fifth Circuit's review, because it would consider the same materials under either rule. Moreover, because the motion was decided after extensive discovery and the court considered material outside of the pleadings, the Fifth Circuit held that the motion should have been converted to a Rule 56 motion for summary judgment.
The Fifth Circuit next considered the impact of Hosanna-Tabor on the Fifth Circuit's prior jurisprudence regarding the ministerial exception. The Fifth Circuit had adopted a three-part test to determine whether the exception applies. See Starkman v. Evans, 198 F.3d 173, 176 (5th Cir. 1999). The Court determined that this three-part test was at most invalidated and at least modified by Hosanna-Tabor, because the Supreme Court rejected any "rigid formulas" in favor of a "totality-of-the-circumstances" test.
Applying that test, the Fifth Circuit concluded that Cannata was a minister for purposes of the exception. The Court noted that he selected hymns, trained cantors, and was involved in the presentation of music during Mass. Therefore, the Court affirmed the district court's judgment.
-- Rich Phillips, Thompson & Knight
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