California Appellate Tracker

Biel v. St. James School

January 29, 2019

Although she taught a standard half-hour religion course each day, a fifth-grade teacher at a Catholic school was not a “minister” and so could sue the school for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by firing her after it learned she was diagnosed with cancer.

In a split decision, this case holds that a fifth-grade teacher at a Catholic school is not a minister and so can sue the school for violating the ADA by firing her after it learned she was diagnosed with cancer. Under Hossana-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. EEOC (2012) 132 S.Ct. 694, the court applies a totality of the circumstances test to determine ministerial status. Here, the Catholic church and the school did not hold the teacher out as a minister. She had also received no training in religion or as a minister and the school had no religious requirements for the position she held. While the teacher taught a standard half-hour religion course each day and joined in daily prayers and monthly Mass led by others, she otherwise had no religious duties.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (Friedland, J.; Fisher, J., dissenting); December 17, 2018; 911 F.3d 603

Subscribe to California Appellate Tracker

Thank you for your desire to subscribe to Severson & Werson’s Appellate Tracker Weblog. In order to subscribe, you must provide a valid name and e-mail address. This too will be retained on our server. When you push the “subscribe button”, we will send an electronic mail to the address that you provided asking you to confirm your subscription to our Weblog. By pushing the “subscribe button”, you represent and warrant that you are over the age of 18 years old, are the owner/authorized user of that e-mail address, and are entitled to receive e-mails at that address. Our weblog will retain your name and e-mail address on its server, or the server of its web host. However, we won’t share any of this information with anyone except the Firm’s employees and contractors, except under certain extraordinary circumstances described on our Privacy Policy and (About The Consumer Finance Blog/About the Appellate Tracker Weblog) Page. NOTICE AND AGREEMENT REGARDING E-MAILS AND CALLS/TEXT MESSAGES TO LAND-LINE AND WIRELESS TELEPHONES: By providing your contact information and confirming your subscription in response to the initial e-mail that we send you, you agree to receive e-mail messages from Severson & Werson from time-to-time and understand and agree that such messages are or may be sent by means of automated dialing technology. If you have your email forwarded to other electronic media, including text messages and cellular telephone by way of VoIP, internet, social media, or otherwise, you agree to receive my messages in that way. This may result in charges to you. Your agreement and consent also extend to any other agents, affiliates, or entities to whom our communications are forwarded. You agree that you will notify Severson & Werson in writing if you revoke this agreement and that your revocation will not be effective until you notify Severson & Werson in writing. You understand and agree that you will afford Severson & Werson a reasonable time to unsubscribe you from the website, that the ability to do so depends on Severson & Werson’s press of business and access to the weblog, and that you may still receive one or more emails or communications from weblog until we are able to unsubscribe you.

I Agree

Effective, Experienced, Exceptional.

California Appellate Tracker

Biel v. St. James School

Categories

San Francisco

Severson & Werson

Orange County

Severson & Werson