The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has reaffirmed the right of a Catholic school to employ only teachers who live according to the moral teachings of the Catholic Church.
In a unanimous judgment, the court affirmed that the Diocese of Charlotte was well within its rights to fire Lonnie Billard, a former English and drama teacher at Charlotte Catholic High School who was living in a same-sex relationship, in violation of Catholic moral teaching. Billard’s employment at the school had been conditional on an agreement to uphold Catholic teaching.
The court found that the ministerial exception, which allows religious institutions to discriminate against certain protected classes if it is necessary for the ministry of their religion, applied to Billard and therefore the diocese was justified in firing him.
“Even as a teacher of English and drama, Billard’s duties included conforming his instruction to Christian thought and providing a classroom environment consistent with Catholicism,” the three-judge panel that included one Republican and two Democratic appointees wrote. “The record makes clear that CCHS considered it ‘vital’ to its religious mission that its teachers bring a Catholic perspective to bear on Shakespeare as well as on the Bible.”
“Under all the relevant circumstances here, we think this teacher falls within the narrow category of employees who ‘serve as a messenger or teacher of the faith’ covered by the ministerial exception,” the court added.
The ruling fits into several Supreme Court precedents that have repeatedly upheld religious freedom protections, even when this right has seemingly been in tension with federal civil rights law. The ministerial exception itself was a product of the Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
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While it is an encouraging sign to see courts continue to defend the right to religious freedom, the very fact that the Diocese of Charlotte and CCHS were forced to go to court to defend their right to expect certain moral behavior from its employees indicates an enduring intolerance for religion by a group of people that is all too eager to run to the American Civil Liberties Union and force these institutions to defend themselves.
Billard had no right to expect employment from Charlotte Catholic High School when it was clear he had violated the employment agreement that he had made with the school and the diocese. Instead of humbly accepting that reality, Billard sought to force the Catholic high school to conform to his way of life. Perhaps this court defeat will allow him the opportunity to reflect on his religious bigotry.
