ADA charge dodged by religious school

A Supreme Court ruling last week that says a religious school can claim a “ministerial exception” to a discrimination charge under the Americans with Disabilities Act for a teacher who also taught secular subjects will discourage litigation in this area, say many observers. But the court’s unanimous Jan. 11 decision in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School vs. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission et al., does not make clear the extent to which the ministerial exception applies to other religious-organization employees, say some observers.