By Thomas J. Hurney, Jr., Jackson Kelly Faith-Based Institutions Group
The Intermediate Court of Appeals recognized that “the provisions protecting freedom of religion in the United States Constitution and West Virginia Constitution” barred a minister’s claim of wrongful termination against her church in Elmore v. Mount Vernon Baptist Church.
Elmore, a Children’s Minister, sued the church for unlawfully terminating her “because she reported another MVBC employee for suspected child abuse and accused MVBC’s male youth minister of sexually harassing her daughter.”
The Church Bylaws’ procedure for terminating a member of the pastoral staff permitted its Board of Deacons to recommend termination “at a called or regularly scheduled meeting, the date and purpose of which have been read from the pulpit on two successive, previous Sunday mornings.” Where at least 25% of the active congregation was present at a meeting, a “majority vote to terminate, in favor of termination at such a meeting, terminates the staff member from employment at MVBC.” The Church followed the Bylaws and, after a majority vote, advised Elmore that her employment was terminated.
The circuit court granted the Church’s motion for summary judgment, finding there was no dispute that Elmore was a member of the pastoral staff and the church followed its Bylaws in terminating her. Elmore’s claims, the circuit court found, were therefore barred on two grounds. First, under the First Amendment “ministerial exception” which “bars employment discrimination claims filed by religious leaders against religious institutions,” recognized in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & Sch. v. E.E.O.C., 565 U.S. 171, 188-90 (2012), and second, under Gillespie v. Elkins Southern Baptist Church, 177 W. Va. 88, 350 S.E.2d 715 (1986), which bars actions for wrongful termination under the First Amendment if the congregation properly voted for her termination.
The ICA affirmed dismissal. The court declined to apply the “ministerial exception” recognized in Hosanna-Tabor because the West Virginia Supreme Court’s decision in Gillespie v. Elkins Southern Baptist Church was dispositive. Under Gillespie, “[i]n a wrongful discharge action by a terminated pastor, the courts cannot go beyond completely neutral principles of law to inquire into church doctrine or to determine if the termination was arbitrary.” Thus, “[i]n a congregational church the membership ultimately controls the business of the church and, without some compelling reason to do otherwise, this Court will limit its analysis in a pastor’s wrongful discharge action to inquiring whether the congregation met and whether it acted to terminate the pastor.”
Because there was no dispute that the church followed its Bylaws in terminating Elmore, the ICA held that the First Amendment prohibited the courts from interfering with the internal operation of the church.
The ICA also rejected Elmore’s argument that her claim of retaliatory discharge was an exception to the “general prohibition against courts looking further than the congregation’s vote,” finding to examine the claim, “would require the civil courts to examine the reasons for the pastor’s termination. Almost inevitably, this analysis would require the courts to go beyond completely neutral principles of law to inquire into church doctrine or to determine if the termination was arbitrary. This the courts cannot do.” The ICA also rejected Elmore’s argument that her claim of fraud or collusion in the termination was an exception to the rule because she cited no authority for the argument or evidence to support it. Because the church bylaws did not require the Board to “explain its reasons for recommending a termination or specify the level of detail necessary if the Board does so,” Elmore failed to demonstrate a “compelling reason” for the circuit court to look beyond the vote to terminate her.
Judge Greear filed a concurring opinion, arguing the “ministerial exception” recognized in Hosanna-Tabor applied and foreclosed judicial review because Elmore’s claims involved an “employment relationship between a religious institution and its minister.” As Elmore was terminated from her position as a children’s minister, Judge Greear found the application of the ministerial exception was “straightforward.”
Judge Greear also wrote that federal law barred courts from interfering with the employment relationship between a religious institution and individuals performing ministerial functions, as suggested in the majority opinion. Instead, “where the claims arise from an employment relationship with a religious institution in a ministerial capacity, federal law controls and does not permit judicial inquiry into the reasons for the employment decisions.”
Elmore v. Mount Vernon Baptist Church provides important protection for churches and religious institutions with respect to their decisions to hire and terminate employees working in a ministerial capacity.