	Introduction

A number of federal laws prohibit discrimination in employment decisions, including hiring and firing of employees. The exceptions in these laws for religious organizations reflect a constitutional protection commonly known as the ministerial exception. In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the ministerial exception as a protection grounded in the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC . However, the Court did not define the scope of the exception, and a number of questions still remain unanswered in how it may be applied in future cases. This report analyzes the constitutional bases of the ministerial exception and examines selected statutory provisions reflecting its protections under federal employment laws. The report addresses critical questions involved in the application of the ministerial exception, including which employees qualify as ministers, the extent to which courts may defer to religious entities claiming the exception, and whether the exception may apply to any claim brought against a religious entity. Congress has included explicit statutory recognition of the hiring rights of religious organizations in these laws. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Title VII prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. The ADA includes exemptions for religious organizations. Origins of the Ministerial Exception

In a 1972 case recognizing a constitutional ministerial exception to employment discrimination laws, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held the employment relationship between a church and its minister was beyond the reach of governmental regulation. It agreed with the circuit courts that the First Amendment provides protection for a religious organization's decisions regarding employment of its ministers. Distinctions Between Statutory Religious Exemptions and the Constitutional Ministerial Exception

The statutory exemptions for religious organizations provided by Congress differ from the constitutional ministerial exception, though both are rooted in the same principles of non-interference in the internal decisions of church authority and operations. To invoke the constitutional ministerial exception, an employer must be a religious organization and the employee must be a minister or ministerial employee.
Congress has enacted a number of federal laws banning discrimination in employment decisions, including hiring and firing of employees. For example, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in employment if the discrimination is based on race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination based on disability. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits discrimination in employment based on age. Exceptions in these laws for religious organizations have reflected long-standing recognition of the autonomy of religious organizations in certain employment decisions.
While these statutory provisions protect religious organizations in selected contexts, religious organizations also have constitutional protection, known as the ministerial exception. The ministerial exception protects the employment relationship between a religious entity and its ministerial employees. Courts have long held that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution bars the government from interfering with internal governance of religious organizations, including decisions regarding employment of ministers or ministerial employees. This exception has generally been framed relatively narrowly to avoid undermining the public policy goals of nondiscrimination legislation. Thus, only religious institutions may claim the ministerial exception and may only do so if the employee functions as a minister or ministerial employee. The boundaries of the exception are not yet settled though. In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the ministerial exception as a necessary outgrowth of its jurisprudence on non-interference in the internal governance of religious organizations (Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC). However, the Court did not define the scope of the exception and declined to identify a standard for determining whether an employee could be labeled as ministerial.
This report analyzes the history and constitutional bases for the ministerial exception and examines selected statutory provisions reflecting its protections under federal employment laws. The report examines the distinction between the constitutional and statutory protections for religious organizations and addresses critical questions involved in judicial consideration of the ministerial exception. It analyzes which employees may qualify as ministerial, the extent to which courts may defer to religious entities claiming the exception, and whether the exception may apply to any claim brought against a religious entity.