Opinion ID: 1197829
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Interpretation of Church Doctrine

Text: In addition to being motivated by the concern of government interference in church governance, the ministerial exception is also motivated by the concern that secular authorities would be involved in evaluating or interpreting religious doctrine. Tomic, 442 F.3d at 1039 (quoting Combs v. Central Texas Annual Conference of United Methodist Church, 173 F.3d 343, 350 (5th Cir.1999)). In the instant case, Hosanna-Tabor has attempted to reframe the underlying dispute from the question of whether Hosanna-Tabor fired Perich in violation of the ADA to the question of whether Perich violated church doctrine by not engaging in internal dispute resolution. However, contrary to Hosanna-Tabor's assertions, Perich's claim would not require the court to analyze any church doctrine; rather a trial would focus on issues such as whether Perich was disabled within the meaning of the ADA, whether Perich opposed a practice that was unlawful under the ADA, and whether Hosanna-Tabor violated the ADA in its treatment of Perich. As Plaintiff notes, the LCMS personnel manual, which includes EEOC policy, and the Governing Manual for Lutheran Schools clearly contemplate that teachers are protected by employment discrimination and contract laws. In addition, none of the letters that Hosanna-Tabor sent to Perich throughout her termination process reference church doctrine or the LCMS dispute resolution procedures. Furthermore, this Court would not be precluded from inquiring into whether a doctrinal basis actually motivated Hosanna-Tabor's actions. See, e.g., Geary v. Visitation of Blessed Virgin Mary Parish Sch., 7 F.3d 324, 329 (3d Cir.1993) (finding that the First Amendment did not preclude the court from determin[ing] whether the religious reason stated by [the school] actually motivated the dismissal); DeMarco, 4 F.3d at 171 (noting that a court can conduct an inquiry ... directed toward determining whether the articulated purpose is the actual purpose for the challenged employment-related action without calling into question the value or truthfulness of religious doctrine).