4/14/2021 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly to rescind Perich's "call," and her employment was terminated for "insubordination and disruptive behavior."[16] Perich filed a charge before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming that she was discriminated on the ground of disability. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission agreed and sued Hosanna-Tabor before the district court. It prayed that Perich be reinstated to her former position.[17] Hosanna-Tabor moved for summary judgment and argued that the First Amendment barred the suit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. According to Hosanna-Tabor, it fired Perich for a religious reason given that her threat to sue the church was contrary to the Christian teaching of resolving disputes internally.[18] The District Court granted summary judgment and dismissed the complaint, agreeing with Hosanna-Tabor that the suit was barred by the First Amendment. It held that allowing the suit would infringe upon the religious freedom of Hosanna-Tabor to choose those who could teach Lutheran doctrine in its school. Reversing the District Court, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit remanded the case. While recognizing that the First Amendment barred suits filed by ministers whose employment were terminated by their churches, the Court of Appeals held that the "ministerial exception" did not apply considering that Perich was not a minister.[19] The United States Supreme Court disagreed with the Court of Appeals and held that the "ministerial exception" applied in the case. First, it discussed the history and development of the religion clauses and how they were formulated to primarily bar the Federal Government from meddling with ecclesiastical affairs, unlike the English Crown which established a national church and at times imposed its preferences as to the religious officers to be appointed. Specifically on the non-establishment clause, its purpose is to "[prevent] the Government from appointing ministers."[20] As for the free exercise clause, it "prevents [the Government] from interfering with the freedom of religious groups to select their own."[21] It had yet to decide a case involving government interference with the employment choices of religious groups, so the United States Supreme Court, instead, discussed cases involving disputes over church properties and found that it usually declined jurisdiction by virtue of the First Amendment" Hosanna-Tabor, decided in 2012, was the first case where it had to squarely resolve the issue of whether or not secular courts may resolve employment discrimination suits filed by ministers against the religious institutions that employed them. On this issue, the United States Supreme Court said that secular courts have no such jurisdiction, citing the "ministerial exception” anchored on the First Amendment. Essentially, the ministerial exception bars suits involving "the employment relationship between a religious institution and its ministers," because taking cognizance of such cases infringes on the right of religious organizations to choose who to personify and teach their beliefs. In Hosanna-Tabor: The members of a religious group put their faith in the hands of their ministers. Requiring a church to accept or retain an unwanted minister, or punishing a church for failing to do so, intrudes upon more than a mere employment decision. Such action interferes with the internal governance of https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/66079 12/24