In recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court has expanded protections for religious institutions from claims of discrimination under federal civil rights laws. This church autonomy doctrine allows religious organizations to make decisions that otherwise would be considered discriminatory when compliance with such laws burdens their religious beliefs. Last week, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia) placed limits on the church autonomy doctrine when applied to employees with no discernable religious mission as part of their job duties. 

In Doe v. Catholic Relief Services, the plaintiff was an IT worker who attempted to enroll his husband as a dependent in a religious nonprofit organization’s group health insurance plan. The employer denied coverage, citing its religious objection to gay marriage. He sued, alleging discrimination based on sex and sexual orientation under Title VII and Maryland law. The district court agreed, awarding damages to the plaintiff.

The employer appealed this decision to the Fourth Circuit, which affirmed the district court’s ruling in a 2-1 decision. The court noted that Title VII provides blanket immunity from religious discrimination claims against a religious institution, but in this case, the plaintiff only alleged bias based on sex and sexual orientation. For other types of discrimination claims, the church autonomy doctrine does not apply to workers with no religious mission as part of their job duties. When religious organizations hire from the general job market, they are subject to the same rules as non-religious employers.

The dissenting judge took an expansive view of the doctrine, giving religious organizations broad discretion to match their personnel policies to their religious mission. Unless the Supreme Court agrees to review this decision, religious employers in the Fourth Circuit face two different standards for applying federal civil rights laws depending on the nature of the employee’s work.

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