Payne-Elliott v. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Inc.

• Decision Date: 31 August 2022
• Docket Number: Supreme Court Case No. 22S-CP-302
• Citation: 193 N.E.3d 1009
• Parties: Joshua PAYNE-ELLIOTT, Appellant, v. ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF INDIANAPOLIS, INC., Appellee.
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

193 N.E.3d 1009

Joshua PAYNE-ELLIOTT, Appellant,

v.ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF INDIANAPOLIS, INC., Appellee.

Supreme Court Case No. 22S-CP-302

Supreme Court of Indiana.

Argued: June 28, 2022

Filed August 31, 2022

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT: Kathleen A. DeLaney, Matthew R. Gutwein, Christopher S. Stake, DeLaney & DeLaney LLC, Indianapolis, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE: John S. (Jay) Mercer, Paul J. Carroll, Wooton Hoy, LLC, Greenfield, Indiana, Luke W. Goodrich, Daniel H. Blomberg, Joseph C. Davis, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, Washington, D.C.

ATTORNEYS FOR AMICI CURIAE CONSTITUTIONAL LAW SCHOLARS: Stephen M. Judge, Paul Edgar Harold, SouthBank Legal: LaDue | Curran | Kuehn, South Bend, Indiana

ATTORNEY FOR AMICI CURIAE EPARCHY OF OUR LADY OF LEBANON OF LOS ANGELES & THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AMERICA: John A. Meiser, Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Clinic, Notre Dame, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR AMICUS CURIAE LAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUCATION FUND, INC.: Gregory R. Nevins, Decatur, Georgia, Jeanine Kerridge, Jeffrey M. Barron, Kara M. Kapke, Peter J. Rusthoven, Barnes & Thornburg, LLP Indianapolis, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR AMICUS CURIAE STATE OF INDIANA: Theodore E. Rokita, Attorney General of Indiana, Thomas M. Fisher, Solicitor General, Julia C. Payne, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, Indiana

On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 21A-CP-936

Slaughter, Justice.

Religious freedom protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution encompasses the right of religious institutions "to decide for themselves, free from state interference, matters of church government as well as those of faith and doctrine." Our Lady of Guadalupe Sch. v. Morrissey-Berru , ––– U.S. ––––, 140 S. Ct. 2049, 2055, 207 L.Ed.2d 870 (2020) (quoting Kedroff v. St. Nicholas Cathedral of Russian Orthodox Church in N. Am., 344 U.S. 94, 116, 73 S.Ct. 143, 97 L.Ed. 120 (1952) ). This principle, known as the church-autonomy doctrine, see, e.g., Brazauskas v. Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese, Inc. , 796 N.E.2d 286, 293 (Ind. 2003), applies in this case and requires its dismissal under Indiana Trial Rule 12(B)(6).

I

Joshua Payne-Elliott sued the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Inc., in the Marion Superior Court. His complaint, which included attachments as exhibits, asserts claims against the archdiocese for intentional interference with his contract and employment with Cathedral High School, a Catholic school in Indianapolis. He claims the interference was "not justified".

More specifically, he alleges as follows. Cathedral, founded in 1918, was initially owned by the archdiocese, which later turned over care of Cathedral to the Brothers of Holy Cross. Cathedral was incorporated in 1972 "for the sole purpose of maintaining and operating a Roman Catholic secondary school." In substance, Cathedral's bylaws state as follows: "the essential Holy Cross character of Cathedral as a Catholic high school shall be at all times maintained and [ ] a mission priority is to be an educator in the faith." The archdiocese exercises "significant control" over Cathedral, including "its recognition of Cathedral as a Catholic school."

From 2006 until June 2019, Cathedral employed Payne-Elliott as a world-language and social-studies teacher under a contract that was renewed annually. Payne-Elliott, "a homosexual male", married his same-sex spouse in 2017; his spouse teaches at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School, also in Indianapolis. Cathedral continued renewing Payne-Elliott's teacher contract through May 2019 for the 2019–2020 school year. The archdiocese knew about Payne-Elliott's contract with Cathedral.

In June 2019, Brebeuf announced that despite pressure from the archdiocese, it would not fire Payne-Elliott's spouse. Brebeuf explained it declined the archdiocese's directive that Brebeuf dismiss the spouse "due to the teacher being a spouse within a civilly-recognized same-sex marriage." The next day, Archbishop Charles C. Thompson issued a decree stating that, after extensive dialogue between the archdiocese and Brebeuf, the archdiocese no longer recognizes Brebeuf as a Catholic institution. The decree states that, in accord with Canon 803 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, Brebeuf, "by its own selection, can no longer use the name Catholic and will no longer be identified or recognized as a Catholic institution by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis nor included in the listing of The Official Catholic Directory." The decree explains that the archbishop accepted and respected a school's right and responsibility to make decisions, but that it is his "canonical responsibility to oversee faith and morals as related to Catholic identity within the Archdiocese of Indianapolis" and that Brebeuf "ha[d] chosen not to implement changes in accord with the doctrine and pastoral practice of the Catholic Church[.]"

The complaint alleges further that the archdiocese gave Cathedral the same directive it gave Brebeuf. Cathedral chose differently. On June 23, 2019, Cathedral's president informed Payne-Elliott that, according to this directive, Cathedral was terminating his employment. The president stated that the sole reason for his firing was that "the Archbishop directed that we [Cathedral] can't have someone with a public same-sex marriage here and remain Catholic."

Cathedral then posted a letter addressed to the "Cathedral Family" on its website. The letter stated, in part, that "after 22 months of earnest discussion and extensive dialogue" between Cathedral and the archdiocese, "Archbishop Thompson made it clear that Cathedral's continued employment of a teacher in a public, same-sex marriage would result in our forfeiting our Catholic identity due to our employment of an individual living in contradiction to Catholic teaching on marriage." It continued: "Cathedral has been a Catholic school for the past 100 years and our Catholic faith is at the core of who we are and what we teach at Cathedral. We are committed to educating our students in the tenets of the Catholic faith[.]" It stated further that "to remain a Catholic Holy Cross School, Cathedral must follow the direct guidance given to us by Archbishop Thompson and separate from the teacher." During oral argument, Payne-Elliott's counsel told us that his client "threatened" to sue Cathedral for breach of contract, and Cathedral settled.

Payne-Elliott then sued the archdiocese, which moved to dismiss the complaint and invoked three First Amendment defenses, including the church-autonomy doctrine. The trial court initially denied the motion to dismiss, but later it reconsidered and dismissed with prejudice for failure to state a claim under Trial Rule 12(B)(6) and lack of subject-matter jurisdiction under Rule 12(B)(1). Payne-Elliott appealed, and the court of appeals reversed and remanded for further proceedings. Payne-Elliott v. Roman Cath. Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Inc. , 180 N.E.3d 311 (Ind. Ct. App. 2021), reh'g denied.

We heard oral argument on the archdiocese's transfer petition, which we grant today, thus vacating the appellate opinion.

II

To begin, we agree with Payne-Elliott that the trial court erred by dismissing under Rule 12(B)(1), which allows dismissal for "[l]ack of jurisdiction over the subject matter". Ind. Trial Rule 12(B)(1). In determining whether a court has subject-matter jurisdiction, we ask whether the action or claim falls within the general scope of authority conferred upon the court by the constitution or by statute. State v. Reinhart , 112 N.E.3d 705, 711–12 (Ind. 2018) (citing State ex rel. Young v. Noble Cir. Ct. , 263 Ind. 353, 356, 332 N.E.2d 99, 101 (1975) ). A court with general authority to hear matters like employment disputes is not ousted of subject-matter jurisdiction just because the defendant asserts a religious defense. Brazauskas , 796 N.E.2d at 290.

Thus, we turn to consider Trial Rule 12(B)(6) as the trial court's alternative basis for dismissal. A 12(B)(6) motion tests the legal sufficiency of the plaintiff's claim, not the facts supporting it. Bellwether Properties, LLC v. Duke Energy Indiana, Inc. , 87 N.E.3d 462, 466 (Ind. 2017) (citing Thornton v. State , 43 N.E.3d 585, 587 (Ind. 2015) ). Dismissal under 12(B)(6) is not proper "unless it appears to a certainty on the face of the complaint that the complaining party is not entitled to any relief." Id. (quoting State v. American Family Voices, Inc. , 898 N.E.2d 293, 296 (Ind. 2008) ). We review a 12(B)(6) dismissal anew, giving no deference to the trial court's judgment. Id. (citing Veolia Water Indianapolis, LLC v. Nat'l Trust Ins. Co. , 3 N.E.3d 1, 4 (Ind. 2014) ). A reviewing court takes the complaint's allegations as true and considers them in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, drawing every reasonable inference in that party's favor. Id. (citing Veolia Water , 3 N.E.3d at 4–5 ). Dismissal under Rule 12(B)(6) is rarely appropriate when the asserted ground for dismissal is an affirmative defense; but where a plaintiff has pleaded himself out of court by alleging, and thus admitting, the essential elements of a defense, his complaint fails to state a claim on which relief can be granted. Id. at 464.

Here, as grounds for dismissal, the archdiocese asserted three affirmative defenses: church autonomy, freedom of expressive association, and the ministerial exception. Based on the complaint and its attachments, we hold that Payne-Elliott has pleaded all elements of the archdiocese's church-autonomy defense. Because the archdiocese is entitled to dismissal on this ground, we need not pass on its other two defenses.

Brazauskas guides our church-autonomy analysis. Brazauskas sued a diocese and a priest for blacklisting and for tortiously interfering with a business relationship. Brazauskas , 796 N.E.2d at 288. She alleged the defendants prevented her from obtaining a job at the University of Notre Dame, a Catholic university, by truthfully informing its president (a...