Su v. Temple
| Decision Date | 08 March 2019 |
| Docket Number | B275426 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | Julie SU, as Labor Commissioner, etc., Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Stephen S. Wise TEMPLE, Defendant and Respondent. |
INTRODUCTION
This case was brought by plaintiff and appellant Labor Commissioner Julie Su (Commissioner) on behalf of preschool teachers employed by defendant and respondent Stephen S. Wise Temple (Temple). The Commissioner alleged that the Temple violated various provisions of the Labor Code by failing to provide its preschool teachers with rest breaks, uninterrupted meal breaks, and overtime pay. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the Temple, concluding the Commissioner’s claims were barred by the "ministerial exception"—a constitutional doctrine that provides a complete defense to certain employment claims brought against religious institutions by or on behalf of persons classified as ministerial employees.
Although the Temple’s preschool curriculum has both secular and religious content, its teachers are not required to have any formal Jewish education, to be knowledgeable about Jewish belief and practice, or to adhere to the Temple’s theology. Further, the Temple does not refer to its teachers as "ministers" or the equivalent, nor do the teachers refer to themselves as such. Accordingly, we conclude the teachers are not "ministers" for purposes of the ministerial exception. We therefore reverse the judgment and remand for further proceedings.
BACKGROUND
The Temple is a Reform Jewish synagogue, whose mission is to promote the Jewish faith and serve and strengthen the Jewish community. The Temple’s Early Childhood Center (ECC), which employs approximately 40 teachers, is an on-site preschool for children five years of age and under.
The ECC’s curriculum has a significant secular component. ECC teachers spend much of the school day engaged with children in indoor and outdoor play at various learning centers. These learning centers include blocks, puzzles, games, books, and science, and promote reading readiness, writing readiness, and math readiness. Teachers also work with children on social skills, including sharing and kindness, and assist with toileting, meals, and snacks.
The ECC’s curriculum also has a religious component through which children are introduced to Jewish life, religious ritual, and Judaic observance. The religious curriculum includes the celebration of Jewish holidays, weekly Shabbat observance, recitation of the ha-motzi (grace before meals) before meals and snacks, and an introduction to Jewish values such as kehillah (community), hoda’ah (gratitude) and shalom (peace and wholeness). All ECC teachers participate in weekly Shabbat services and teach religious concepts, music, singing, and dance. The ECC is part of the Temple’s religious and educational mission, and it fulfills a religious obligation of the Temple. The ECC exists to instill and foster a positive sense of Jewish identity and to develop in children favorable attitudes towards the values and practices of Judaism.
ECC teachers are not required to be adherents to the Temple’s religious philosophy or, indeed, to be Jewish. As a result, while some of the ECC’s teachers are Jewish, others are non-Jewish or do not identify with any faith tradition. For example, one former teacher was raised as a Catholic and, prior to taking a job at the ECC, was employed as a teacher and librarian at a private Catholic elementary school. Another teacher is a practicing Catholic; and yet another taught catechism at a church. ECC teachers are not ordained as religious leaders and do not hold themselves out as ministers of the faith.
ECC teachers are not required to have any theological training, to be educated about Judaism, or to be proficient in Hebrew. As a result, some ECC teachers are hired without any knowledge of Jewish religion or practice. Once employed, they are not required to undertake a course of theological study. Instead, the ECC provides its teachers with Judaic reading materials, including the Temple’s "holiday packets," which include explanations of each of the Jewish holidays and the symbols, Hebrew vocabulary, foods, and songs associated with those holidays. In addition, teachers receive guidance on religious observance from the ECC’s rabbis and administrators trained in Jewish education.
The Commissioner filed the present action in September 2013. The operative complaint alleges that the Temple classifies its non-credentialed teachers as "non-exempt," but it does not provide them with 10-minute rest breaks, uninterrupted 30-minute meal breaks, or overtime pay, as required by California’s wage-and-hour laws ( Lab. Code, §§ 226.7, 510, and 512 ; Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 11040, subds. 3, 11, 12 ). The complaint therefore alleges statutory wage-and-hour violations, and it seeks meal and rest period premiums, overtime pay, statutory and civil penalties, and an injunction.
The Temple filed a motion for summary judgment. It asserted that the ECC was a religious school and its preschool teachers were "ministerial employees," as defined by the United States Supreme Court in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical v. E.E.O.C. (2012) 565 U.S. 171, 132 S.Ct. 694, 181 L.Ed.2d 650 ( Hosanna-Tabor ). The Temple therefore urged that the Commissioner’s claims were barred by the "ministerial exception," which precludes government intrusion into certain aspects of the employment relationship between a religious institution and its "ministers."
The Commissioner opposed the Temple’s motion for summary judgment. Although the Commissioner did not dispute most of the Temple’s facts, she asserted the Temple’s preschool program is primarily secular; ECC teachers are not required to study or to adhere to the Temple’s theology to be hired or maintain employment; ECC teachers are not ordained or otherwise recognized as spiritual or religious leaders; ECC teachers do not hold themselves out as ministers; the ECC is open to children of parents who are not adherents of the Temple’s theology; and the Temple’s rabbis, not its teachers, are primarily responsible for the children’s religious instruction and spiritual leadership. The Commissioner also asserted the First Amendment does not preclude enforcement of facially neutral labor regulations, and the Temple had not demonstrated that the regulations at issue were substantively at odds with the Temple’s religious beliefs or required conduct contrary to those beliefs. Thus, the Commissioner argued, there was no evidence that the wage-and-hour laws at issue burdened the Temple’s religious beliefs in a manner that violated the First Amendment.
The court granted the motion for summary judgment. It concluded the Temple’s preschool teachers were "ministers" within the meaning of the ministerial exception, explaining that the exception is not limited to the heads of religious congregations, and prior decisions had recognized that preschool teachers in religious schools could serve ministerial functions. In the present case, it was undisputed "that the ECC fulfills a religious obligation of the Temple; ECC teachers further the Temple’s mission and implement Judaic curriculum; ECC teachers teach children about Jewish religious holidays; ECC teachers participate in weekly Shabbat services; ECC teachers teach student[s] to say the Jewish grace blessing before each meal and snack; ECC teachers instruct children in saying the Shema prayer and Oseh Shalom, a prayer for peace; teaching children about religious practices, holidays, and rituals fulfills religious commandments; ECC teachers help transmit Judaism to future generations; Judaism does not preclude a non-Jew from teaching the Jewish religion; early Jewish childhood education impacts not only the child, but the Jewish identity of the child’s parents and family; upon a child’s completion of the ECC program, the majority of families continue their children’s Jewish education at the Temple’s schools; and teaching music, singing, and dance to students fulfills a religious obligation and Biblical directive." Under these facts, the court said, "a reasonable trier of fact could not conclude that ECC teachers do not serve a ministerial function."
The court entered judgment on August 16, 2016. The Commissioner timely appealed.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
A defendant moving for summary judgment must show "that one or more elements of the cause of action ... cannot be established, or that there is a complete defense to the cause of action." ( Code Civ. Proc., § 437c, subd. (p)(2).) Summary judgment is appropriate where "all the papers submitted show that there is no triable issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." (Id ., subd. (c).) We review a trial court’s grant of summary judgment de novo, "considering all the evidence set forth in the moving and opposition papers except that to which objections have been made and sustained." ( Guz v. Bechtel National, Inc . (2000) 24 Cal.4th 317, 334, 100 Cal.Rptr.2d 352, 8 P.3d 1089.)
DISCUSSION
The First Amendment provides, in part, that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." ( U.S. Const., 1st Amend.)
A "ministerial exception" to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ( 42 U.S.C., § 2000e et seq. ) (Title VII), grounded in the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment, was first articulated by the Fifth Circuit in McClure v. Salvation Army (5th Cir. 1972) 460 F.2d 553, and subsequently was recognized by every federal circuit.1 As articulated by the federal courts, the ministerial exception "operates to exempt from the coverage of various employment laws the employment relationships between religious institutions and their ‘ministers.’ " ( E.E.O.C. v. Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh,...
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