finding that the “application of the provisions of Title VII to the employment relationship existing between the Salvation Army and Mrs. McClure, a church and its minister, would result in an encroachment by the State into an area of religious freedom which it is forbidden to enter by the principles of the free exercise clause of the First Amendment”
How later courts described this case
- finding that the “application of the provisions of Title VII to the employment relationship existing between the Salvation Army and Mrs. McClure, a church and its minister, would result in an encroachment by the State into an area of religious freedom which it is forbidden to enter by the principles of the free exercise clause of the First Amendment”
- stating that “[i]f the provisions of Title VII are to apply to the relationship between [the defendant] and [the plaintiff,] it is necessary that [the defendant] be an ‘employer’ engaged in an ‘industry affecting commerce’ and that [the plaintiff] be an ‘employee’ as those terms are defined” in the Act
- holding application of Title VII to the employment relationship between the Salvation Army and its ordained minister would involve a review that would cause improper state intrusion on matters of church governance
- recognizing that “[t]he relationship between an organized church and its ministers is its lifeblood” and that application of Title VII to this relationship would encroach on religious freedom
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
ON PETITION FOR REHEARING
PER CURIAM:
It is ordered that the parties bear their own costs in this Court and in the district court.