Combs v. Central Texas Annual Conference of United Methodist Church, 98-10193

• Decision Date: 03 May 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-10193,98-10193
• Citation: 173 F.3d 343
• Parties: 79 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1441 Reverend Pamela COMBS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The CENTRAL TEXAS ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH (a non-profit corporation) and The First United Methodist Church of Hurst, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 343

173 F.3d 343

79 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1441

Reverend Pamela COMBS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The CENTRAL TEXAS ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH (a non-profit corporation) and The First United Methodist Church of Hurst Defendants-Appellees.

No. 98-10193.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

May 3, 1999.

Richard Albert Valdes, Dallas, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

George Allen Butler, Robert James Wood, Clark, West, Keller, Butler & Ellis, Dallas, TX, for Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Before DAVIS, SMITH and WIENER, Circuit Judges.

W. EUGENE DAVIS, Circuit Judge:

Reverend Pamela Combs appeals the dismissal of her Title VII sex and pregnancy discrimination suit against the First United Methodist Church of Hurst ("First United") and the Central Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church ("Central Texas Conference"). The sole question presented in this appeal is whether the district court correctly determined that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment precluded it from considering Reverend Combs's employment discrimination case. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the district court was correct and affirm.

I.

The district court granted Central Texas Conference's Motion for Summary Judgment and also granted First United's Motion to Dismiss under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). Therefore, on appeal, we review the facts, including credibility determinations and the reasonable inferences that may be drawn from the facts, in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, Plaintiff Reverend Combs. See, e.g., Wynn v. Washington Nat'l Ins. Co., 122 F.3d 266, 268 (5th Cir.1997). The facts of this case, when viewed in such a light, are summarized as follows.

Reverend Combs is a graduate of the New Orleans Theological Seminary. In 1988, she was ordained as a Baptist minister. In 1993, she was hired as First United's Singles Minister. In late 1994, she was appointed First United's Associate Minister. In this new position, she served communion, assisted in baptisms, performed marriages, and led funerals.

In February 1995, as part of the long process of having her ordination recognized within the Methodist Church, she was interviewed by the United Methodist Board of Ordained Ministry, which unanimously recommended to the Bishop of the Central Texas Conference that she be ordained. In June 1995, she was appointed by the Bishop, Joe A. Wilson, to serve for the next year as a minister at First United.

In October 1995, Reverend Combs, who was--and still is--married, announced that she was pregnant. She requested and was granted maternity leave for the expected childbirth. In March 1996, she had her annual interview with the United Methodist Board of Ordained Ministry. The board again recommended unanimously that Reverend Combs continue with the process of having her ordination recognized within the Methodist Church.

Around this time, Reverend Combs questioned why her pay was substantially lower than that of the male ministers she had replaced. She also requested a housing allowance because she and her family had moved out of the parsonage to free up space for other church use. In response, the Staff Parish Relations Committee made several adjustments to her compensation package.

In April 1996, Reverend Combs took some accrued vacation time and began her eight-week maternity leave, as provided for clergy by the rules of the United Methodist Church Book of Discipline. On April 17, 1996, she gave birth. Unfortunately, however, Reverend Combs suffered serious post-partum complications, which required hospitalization, surgery, heavy medication, and extensive rest.

During this period of incapacitation, Reverend Combs's position within First United was questioned by her pastor and immediate supervisor, Dr. John Fielder. He challenged her competence, performance, and honesty. In addition, one of First United's oversight committees stated that she was a lay employee rather than a member of the clergy. The church then denied her the maternity benefits she had been granted and demanded she repay those benefits that had already been paid to her.

Nevertheless, in June 1996, the Bishop of the Central Texas Conference reappointed Reverend Combs as an Associate Minister for First United. However, when Reverend Combs returned to work on June 17, 1996, she was told by Dr. Fielder that she had been terminated and that she was required to leave the premises immediately. The next day, Reverend Combs went to the Staff Parish Relations Committee. The committee stated that Dr. Fielder said she had resigned and that the committee had accepted her resignation. Reverend Combs protested that she had not resigned, but to no avail. Reverend Combs then brought the matter to the attention of the Central Texas Conference. However, she found no support from that organization either.

Reverend Combs filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). The EEOC dismissed the claim under Section 702 of Title VII, which permits religious organizations to discriminate on the basis of religion. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-1. The EEOC, however, did grant Reverend Combs a "right to sue" letter.

Reverend Combs sued both the Central Texas Conference and First United, alleging discrimination on the basis of her sex and her pregnancy in violation of Title VII. She alleged that the deprivation of her benefits and her termination were the conclusion of a practice of discrimination that included disparate salary and treatment while she was employed.

In response to this suit, Defendant Central Texas Conference filed a Motion for Summary Judgment arguing, among other things, that the decision to terminate Reverend Combs was shielded from governmental review by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. Defendant First United filed a Motion to Dismiss under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) predicated upon the same theory. On January 15, 1998, the district court granted these two motions and dismissed Reverend Comb's suit. The district court held that the First Amendment prohibits civil review of the Defendants' decision to terminate Reverend Combs and therefore the district court lacked jurisdiction over the case. Reverend Combs now appeals this dismissal. ¹

II.

The question before us is whether the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment ² deprives a federal court of jurisdiction to hear a Title VII employment discrimination suit brought against a church by a member of its clergy, even when the church's challenged actions are not based on religious doctrine.

All parties agree that prior to 1990, the district court decision would have been correct. In McClure v. Salvation Army, 460 F.2d 553, 560 (5th Cir.1972), this Court established a church-minister ³ exception to the coverage of Title VII. In this appeal, however, Reverend Combs questions whether McClure and its church minister exception still stand in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872, 110 S.Ct. 1595, 108 L.Ed.2d 876 (1990). To resolve this question, we start by reviewing McClure and move from that case forward.

A.

In 1972, this Court was asked whether Mrs. Billie McClure, a Salvation Army officer alleging discrimination on the basis of her sex, could state a claim against the Salvation Army under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. McClure, 460 F.2d at 554-57. Relying in part upon the findings of the district court, this Court determined that the Salvation Army was an "employer" under Title VII, and that the Salvation Army was engaged in interstate commerce. Id. Therefore, the Court determined that the Salvation Army fell within the general coverage of Title VII. Id.

The Court also determined that the Salvation Army was a church and that Mrs. McClure was an ordained minister within that church. These findings required the Court to address two further questions: Was the Salvation Army exempt from Title VII under Section 702's religious exemption? If not, did the First Amendment exempt the Salvation Army's treatment of Mrs. McClure from federal review under Title VII?

In answering the first question, the Court concluded that although Section 702 exempts religious organizations from Title VII's coverage for religious discrimination, it does not provide a blanket exemption for all discrimination. Title VII still prohibits a religious organization from discriminating on the basis of race, color, sex, or national origin. Id. Because Mrs. McClure was alleging discrimination on the basis of her sex, this Court held that her claim did not fall within the Section 702 exemption.

After determining that Mrs. McClure's claim fell within the statutory coverage of Title VII, the Court addressed whether the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment permitted such a claim by a minister against her church. The Court began by noting that the First Amendment has built a "wall of separation" between church and state. Id. After describing this wall, the Court stated:

Only in rare instances where a "compelling state interest in the regulation of a subject within the State's constitutional power to regulate" is shown can a court uphold state action which imposes even an "incidental burden" on the free exercise of religion. In this highly sensitive constitutional area " '[o]nly the gravest abuses, endangering paramount interests, give occasion for permissible limitation.' " Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398, 83 S.Ct. 1790, 10 L.Ed.2d 965 (1963). ⁴

This Court then emphasized the importance of the relationship between an organized church and its ministers, describing it as the church's "lifeblood." McClure, 460 F.2d at 558-59. The Court reviewed a series of cases in which the Supreme Court had placed matters of...