California Church Decision to Fire Teacher Upheld by Court
An appeals court in California has sided with a Lutheran Church that fired one if its teachers for living with her boyfriend and their son out of wedlock.
Sara Henry, a pre-school director in Tustin, California, filed a wrongful termination suit against the Red Hill Evangelical Lutheran Church, her employer. She was fired in May 2009 for living with her boyfriend and raising their son without being married.
Henry was married when she applied to the preschool in 2002, but she later divorced and gave birth to child in 2007 with her current live-in boyfriend, according to the L.A. Times. The preschool, which is part of the church’s ministry and not a separate legal entity, said Henry was fired because she continued to live unmarried and in a sexual relationship with her boyfriend.
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Henry, who continued to work at the school after the birth of her son, told school officials that she would marry her boyfriend, but wasn’t ready. When the principal of the school found out that parents were talking about Henry’s living situation, they forced her to make her a choice. If she decided to marry her boyfriend, she would still have her job, according to the courts.
A panel of jurists found that the church could not allow Henry, its face and representative to the students and parents, to continue living in what it considered a “sinful manner”.
In 2010, Judge Derek W. Hunt ruled that the church was a religious institution and Henry’s termination was a result of her violating a church precept, according to the L.A. Times.
According to court documents, Henry knew the school was “Bible-based” and teachers, parents and students were required to be practicing Christians. She also signed the Red Hill’s “ministry commitment” in 2008, acknowledging that she was an “at-will” employee, hired to “minister to our students and families,” according to a Courthouse News report.
Henry appealed the 2010 decision, but the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana ruled that the church was exempt from the Fair Employment and Housing Act, and she was fired for religious reasons. Therefore her wrongful termination suit didn’t qualify because the church isn’t considered an employer, according to The Orange County Register.
The courts also said her suit would be barred because of the ministerial exception that protects religious organizations from the consequences of employment discrimination.
