Rayburn v. General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, SEVENTH-DAY

CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)
Citation772 F.2d 1164
Docket NumberNo. 84-1319,SEVENTH-DAY,84-1319
Parties38 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1641, 38 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 35,555, 54 USLW 2190 Carole A. RAYBURN, Appellant, v. GENERAL CONFERENCE OFADVENTISTS, an unincorporated association; General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists, a corporation; Potomac Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, an unincorporated association; Potomac Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists, a corporation; Kenneth J. Mittleider; and James Londis; Appellees.
Decision Date23 September 1985

Eileen M. Stein, Chevy Chase, Md., for appellant.

Walter E. Carson, Washington, D.C., Glenn E. Culpepper, Takoma Park, Md., (Johns & Carson, Washington, D.C., Gingerich and Culpepper, Takoma Park, Md., on brief), for appellees.

Before WINTER, Chief Judge, and SPROUSE and WILKINSON, Circuit Judges.

WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:

This case raises significant questions about the application of the civil rights laws to churches. The issue is whether a woman denied a pastoral position in the Seventh-day Adventist Church may charge that church with sexual and racial discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The district court granted summary judgment to defendants on the grounds that the suit was barred by the religion clauses of the First Amendment. Because state scrutiny of the church's choice would infringe substantially on the church's free exercise of religion and would constitute impermissible government entanglement with church authority, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I

Carole Rayburn is a white female member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who holds a Master of Divinity degree from Andrews University, the church's theological seminary, and a Ph.D. in psychology from Catholic University. In 1979 she applied to appellee Potomac Conference, an administrative body within the church, for an Associate in Pastoral Care internship. At about the same time, she applied for a vacancy on the pastoral staff of the Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church, one of the denomination's largest with a congregation of five thousand people at the church's world headquarters in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Rayburn hoped by securing the internship to be assigned to the Sligo Church vacancy. The pastoral staff of Sligo Church consists of the senior pastor and six associate pastors. The position of associate pastor may be held by an ordained minister, a ministerial intern (a male who has received seminary training but has not been ordained), or an associate in pastoral care (a female who has received seminary training but has a different title from her male counterpart because in the Seventh-day Adventist Church women may not stand for ordination).

Both the Sligo vacancy as an associate in pastoral care and the Potomac Conference internship were awarded to another woman. Upon learning of her rejection, Rayburn filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, alleging discrimination on the basis of her sex, her association with black persons, her membership in black-oriented religious organizations, and her opposition to practices made unlawful by Title VII. After receiving a right-to-sue letter, she filed the present action against the Potomac Conference and its president, Kenneth Mittleider, the pastor of the Sligo Church, James Londis, and the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, the governing body of the church which must formally approve all applications recommended by local bodies such as the Potomac Conference. 1

Limited discovery focused on the nature of an associateship in pastoral care. Undisputed evidence showed that the Sligo Church position entailed teaching baptismal and Bible classes, pastoring the singles group, occasional preaching at Sligo and other churches, and other evangelical, liturgical, and counselling responsibilities. An associate in pastoral care may also receive a "commissioned minister credential" or a "commissioned minister license," although, as stated, she may never be ordained.

Rayburn did submit some evidence to support her claims of sexual and racial discrimination, but the district court for the District of Maryland granted defendants' motions for summary judgment. The court ruled that the General Conference of the church should be dismissed as a defendant because it had no involvement with Rayburn's application. It held further that a Title VII suit was barred in this instance by the religion clauses of the First Amendment. Contending that selection of an associate in pastoral care is not exempt from Title VII, Rayburn brings this appeal.

II

Before addressing the decision of the district court and the response of Rayburn we must first determine whether Title VII and the First Amendment necessarily collide in this case. The Supreme Court has often noted that "if a serious doubt of constitutionality is raised, it is a cardinal principle that this Court will first ascertain whether a construction of the statute is fairly possible by which the question may be avoided." International Association of Machinists v. Street, 367 U.S. 740, 749-50, 81 S.Ct. 1784, 1789-90, 6 L.Ed.2d 1141 (1961); accord, Curtis v. Loether, 415 U.S. 189, 192 n. 6, 94 S.Ct. 1005, 1007 n. 6, 39 L.Ed.2d 260 (1974); Ashwander v. TVA, 297 U.S. 288, 348, 56 S.Ct. 466, 483, 80 L.Ed. 688 (1936) (Brandeis, J., concurring). Such a construction is especially appropriate when a broader reading of the statute implicates the religion clauses of the First Amendment. In NLRB v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago, 440 U.S. 490, 99 S.Ct. 1313, 59 L.Ed.2d 533 (1979), the Court, discussing the National Labor Relations Board's jurisdiction over lay teachers in parochial schools under the National Labor Relations Act, stated:

In keeping with the Court's prudential policy it is incumbent on us to determine whether the Board's exercise of its jurisdiction here would give rise to serious constitutional questions. If so, we must first identify "the affirmative intention of the Congress clearly expressed" before concluding that the Act grants jurisdiction.

440 U.S. at 501, 99 S.Ct. at 1319, quoting McCulloch v. Sociedad Nacional de Marineros de Honduras, 372 U.S. 10, 21-22, 83 S.Ct. 671, 677-678, 9 L.Ed.2d 547 (1963) (further citation omitted).

The application of Title VII to the employment relationship before us would definitely "give rise to serious constitutional questions." See e.g. Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese for the United States and Canada v. Milivojevich, 426 U.S. 696, 96 S.Ct. 2372, 49 L.Ed.2d 151 (1976); Kedroff v. St. Nicholas Cathedral, 344 U.S. 94, 73 S.Ct. 143, 97 L.Ed. 120 (1952); McClure v. Salvation Army, 460 F.2d 553 (5th Cir.) cert. denied, 409 U.S. 896, 93 S.Ct. 132, 34 L.Ed.2d 153 (1972). Although we would prefer to avoid those questions, we do not believe that such a course is fairly open to us. The language and the legislative history of Title VII both indicate that the statute exempts religious institutions only to a narrow extent. Section 702 of Title VII, as amended, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-1 (1982), provides:

This subchapter shall not apply ... to a religious corporation, association, educational institution, or society with respect to the employment of individuals of a particular religion to perform work connected with the carrying on by such corporation, association, educational institution, or society of its activities. (emphasis supplied).

The wording of Sec. 702 may fairly be construed to prohibit some forms of state involvement in ecclesiastical decisions of employment. If, for example, a religious institution were to present "convincing evidence" that an employment practice favored members of one faith or denomination over another, "Sec. 702 deprives the EEOC of jurisdiction to investigate further to determine whether the religious discrimination was a pretext for some other form of discrimination." EEOC v. Mississippi College, 626 F.2d 477, 485 (5th Cir.1980).

While the language of Sec. 702 makes clear that religious institutions may base relevant hiring decisions upon religious preferences, Title VII does not confer upon religious organizations a license to make those same decisions on the basis of race, sex, or national origin, see EEOC v. Pacific Press Publishing Ass'n, 676 F.2d 1272, 1277 (9th Cir.1982); EEOC v. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 651 F.2d 277, 282 (5th Cir.1981); EEOC v. Mississippi College, 626 F.2d at 484; McClure v. Salvation Army, 460 F.2d at 558. 2 The statutory exemption applies to one particular reason for employment decision--that based upon religious preference. It was open to Congress to exempt from Title VII the religious employer, not simply one basis of employment, and Congress plainly did not.

The legislative history reinforces the plain meaning of the statutory text. The original Act passed by the House in 1964 excluded religious employers from coverage altogether, H.R.Rep. No. 914, 88th Cong., 1st Sess. (1964), reprinted in 1964 U.S.Cong. & Admin.News, 2355, 2391, 2402. The final version excluded such employers only with respect to discrimination based on religion, and then only with respect to persons hired to carry out the employer's "religious activities." P.L. 88-352, Title VII, Sec. 702, 78 Stat. 255 (July 2, 1964), reprinted in 1964 U.S.Cong. & Admin.News 287, 304. In 1972 the statute was amended to delete the word "religious," P.L. 92-261 Sec. 3, 86 Stat. 103 (March 24, 1972), but Congress specifically rejected proposals to broaden further the scope of the exemption. Subcommittee on Labor of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare of the United States Senate, Legislative History of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 (Comm.Print 1972), at 1229-1230, 1258-1260. To the contrary, the analysis pertaining to Sec. 702 states clearly that "Such organizations remain...

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