Demkovich v. St. Andrew the Apostle Parish

• Decision Date: 30 September 2018
• Docket Number: No. 1:16-cv-11576,1:16-cv-11576
• Citation: 343 F.Supp.3d 772
• Parties: Sandor DEMKOVICH, Plaintiff, v. ST. ANDREW THE APOSTLE PARISH, Calumet City; and, The Archdiocese of Chicago, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

343 F.Supp.3d 772

Sandor DEMKOVICH, Plaintiff,

v.ST. ANDREW THE APOSTLE PARISH, Calumet City; and, The Archdiocese of Chicago, Defendants.

No. 1:16-cv-11576

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division.

Signed September 30, 2018

Kristina Buchthal Regal, Lavelle Law, Ltd., Palatine, IL, for Plaintiff.

Alexander David Marks, Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella, P.C., Chicago, IL, for Defendants.

Honorable Edmond E. Chang, United States District Judge

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Plaintiff Sandor Demkovich brings this suit against St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in Calumet City, Illinois, and the Archdiocese of Chicago. He alleges employment discrimination based on: (1) sex, sexual orientation, and marital status under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. ; the Illinois Human Rights Act, 775 ILCS 5/2-101 et seq. ; and the Cook County Human Rights Ordinance, Cook County, Ill., Code of Ordinances § 42-30 et seq. ; and (2) disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12112 et seq. , and the Illinois Human Rights Act, 755 ILCS 5/1-102 et seq.¹ R. 16, Am. Compl. ¶ 1.² In the original complaint, Demkovich alleged that Reverend Jacek Dada, pastor of St. Andrew Parish, fired Demkovich because he entered into a same-sex marriage and because of his disabilities (diabetes and a metabolic syndrome ). R. 1, Compl. ¶¶ 41, 51, 63, 77, 89.

In September 2017, the Court dismissed the complaint (though without prejudice) on the grounds that the discrimination and wrongful-termination claims were barred by the First Amendment's "ministerial exception." R. 15, Opinion (Sept. 29, 2017). Demkovich then filed an amended complaint, alleging much of the same discriminatory conduct, but modifying his claims to challenge the hostile work environment , rather than the firing itself. Am Compl. at 9-15. In contrast to the original complaint, which sought relief arising from the firing,³ he now seeks damages caused by the emotional distress, mental anguish, and physical ailments he allegedly suffered from the hostile work environment. Id. The Amended Complaint thus does not seek relief for any adverse tangible employment action, but rather for the damages caused by the alleged discriminatory insults and remarks. The Archdiocese (for convenience's sake, this Opinion will collectively refer to the two Defendants that way) now moves to dismiss the Amended Complaint, again arguing that the ministerial exception bars the claims. R. 21, Defs.' Supp. Mot. Dismiss. For the reasons discussed below, the Court first holds that the ministerial exception does not categorically bar hostile work environment claims that do not seek relief for a tangible employment action. Instead, those types of claims (like the one presented here) must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis for excessive intrusion on the religious institution's First Amendment rights. Based on that analysis, the Archdiocese's motion is granted on the claims based on sex, sexual orientation, and marital status, but denied on the disability claims.

I. Background

For the purposes of this motion, the Court accepts as true the allegations in the Amended Complaint. See Erickson v. Pardus , 551 U.S. 89, 94, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007). Demkovich worked as the "Music Director, Choir Director and Organist" for the Archdiocese of Chicago and St. Andrew Parish in Calumet City from September 2012 until his firing in September 2014. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 8-9. Demkovich's immediate supervisor was Reverend Jacek Dada, who was St. Andrew's pastor. Id. ¶¶ 10-11.

Reverend Dada knew that Demkovich was gay and that he was engaged to another man. Am. Compl. ¶ 13. During Demkovich's two years of employment at St. Andrew, Dada made remarks that reflected animus based on Demkovich's sex and sexual orientation, including calling Demkovich and his partner "bitches." Id. ¶¶ 15-16.⁴ In July 2013, Dada asked Demkovich when he planned to marry his partner, and Demkovich responded that the wedding would be sometime in 2014. ¶ 17. Demkovich alleges that the abusive and harassing behavior became increasingly hostile as the wedding date approached. Id. ¶ 18. Dada repeatedly confronted and harassed other St. Andrew's staff members, parish members, and cantor and choir members, both in person and on the phone, demanding information about Demkovich's upcoming wedding ceremony. Id. ¶¶ 19, 23. Dada also recruited other St. Andrew's staff members to help him gather information about the wedding. Id. ¶ 20. The individuals that were harassed or contacted about Demkovich's wedding told Demkovich what Dada was doing and reported that Dada's behavior was distressing and causing them anxiety. Id. ¶ 24. Dada allegedly referred to Demkovich's wedding as a "fag wedding." Id. ¶ 22.

Demkovich married his partner in September 2014. Am. Compl. ¶ 27. In the forty-eight hours before the wedding, a St. Andrew's employee told Demkovich that Reverend Dada intended to ask for Demkovich's resignation because of the marriage. Id. ¶ 25. Another employee told Demkovich that Reverend Dada had informed his staff that he had already fired Demkovich. Id. ¶ 26. After the wedding, Dada demanded that another staff member sign a statement swearing she attended Demkovich's wedding, and when she declined to sign it, Dada told her that he had already fired Demkovich. Id. ¶¶ 28-30. Four days after the wedding, Reverend Dada asked Demkovich to resign because of the marriage. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 31-32. When Demkovich refused to resign, Dada fired him and said, "Your union is against the teachings of the Catholic church." Id. ¶ 33.

On the disability-discrimination claims, Demkovich alleges that he was frequently harassed because of his diabetes and a metabolic syndrome. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 34-35. Reverend Dada made harassing remarks about Demkovich's weight, often urging him to walk Dada's dog to lose weight, and telling Demkovich that he needed to lose weight because Dada did not want to preach at his funeral. Id. ¶¶ 35-36. Dada also repeatedly complained about the cost of keeping Demkovich on the parish's health and dental insurance plans because of his weight and diabetes. Id. ¶ 37. In 2012, when Demkovich declined a dinner invitation from Dada because he did not have his insulin with him, Dada asked if Demkovich was diabetic and told him that he needed to "get his weight under control" to help eliminate his need for insulin. Id. ¶ 38.

As discussed earlier, the original complaint sought relief for Demkovich's firing . Compl. ¶¶ 41, 51, 63, 77, 89. The Court granted the Archdiocese's motion to dismiss, agreeing that the ministerial exception barred Demkovich's claims, but allowed Demkovich to amend his complaint. R. 15, Opinion at 2, 15 (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a) ). Demkovich then filed this Amended Complaint, this time alleging claims of discrimination based on a hostile work environment. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 51, 62, 73, 86, 99. The Archdiocese moves to dismiss, again invoking the ministerial exception. Defs.' Suppl. Mot. Dismiss.

II. Legal Standard

A complaint must contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). This short and plain statement must "give the defendant fair notice of what the ... claim is and the grounds upon which it rests." Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (quoting Conley v. Gibson , 355 U.S. 41, 47, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957) ). The Seventh Circuit has explained that this rule "reflects a liberal notice pleading regime, which is intended to ‘focus litigation on the merits of a claim’ rather than on technicalities that might keep plaintiffs out of court." Brooks v. Ross , 578 F.3d 574, 580 (7th Cir. 2009) (quoting Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N.A. , 534 U.S. 506, 514, 122 S.Ct. 992, 152 L.Ed.2d 1 (2002) ).

"A motion under Rule 12(b)(6) challenges the sufficiency of the complaint to state a claim upon which relief may be granted." Hallinan v. Fraternal Order of Police of Chi. Lodge No. 7 , 570 F.3d 811, 820 (7th Cir. 2009). "[A] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ " Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Twombly , 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ). These allegations "must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level." Twombly , 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. Factual allegations—as opposed to mere legal conclusions—are entitled to the assumption of truth. Iqbal , 556 U.S. at 678-79, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

As explained in the prior Opinion, the ministerial exception is actually an affirmative defense, see Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & Sch. v. E.E.O.C. , 565 U.S. 171, 195 n.4, 132 S.Ct. 694, 181 L.Ed.2d 650 (2012), and is neither an exception to subject matter jurisdiction nor an issue of the adequacy of the claim. R. 15, Opinion at 4. The Court has already held that Demkovich is a "minister" for purposes of the exception. Id. at 7, 11. He does not now dispute his status as a minister, but rather contends that the exception does not apply to his hostile work environment claims, which seek relief only for harassment that did not result in a tangible employment action. See R. 23, Pl.'s Resp. Br. at 2.

III. Analysis

A. Scope of the Ministerial Exception

In light of Demkovich's concession (for purposes of this dismissal motion) that he is a "minister" under the ministerial exception, the primary question is whether the ministerial exception bars claims for a hostile work environment —rather than for refusals-to-hire or for firings—under Title VII and the ADA. Put even more precisely, Demkovich is not seeking damages arising out of a tangible employment action (like the firing). Instead, he seeks damages for the hostile work environment created by the alleged discriminatory remarks and insults of Reverend Dada. The Supreme Court's most thorough (and...