Williams v. Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts
| Decision Date | 04 February 2002 |
| Citation | 436 Mass. 574,766 NE 2d 820 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
| Parties | SANDY WILLIAMS v. EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF MASSACHUSETTS & another. |
Present: MARSHALL, C.J., GREANEY, IRELAND, SPINA, COWIN, SOSMAN, & CORDY, JJ.
David P. Angueira for the plaintiff.
L. Martin Nussbaum, of Colorado (William F. Looney, Jr., & Kimberly Y. Jones with him) for the defendants.
The plaintiff, an Episcopal priest, filed an employment discrimination action in the Superior Court, alleging that the defendants, the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts (Diocese) and the Right Reverend M. Thomas Shaw (the presiding bishop of the Diocese [Bishop]), discriminated against her based on her gender, in violation of G. L. c. 151B, § 4 (1) and (4), resulting in her constructive discharge when she was forced to resign from her position as an ordained minister and vicar of Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church of the Deaf in Brookline (St. Andrew's). The plaintiff's complaint alleges that (1) throughout her employment, she was paid considerably less than her similarly situated male colleagues; (2) when she complained about the disparate treatment, she was admonished and threatened with termination; and (3) she was constructively discharged as a result of being forced to work in a hostile work environment. The defendants moved to dismiss under Mass. R. Civ. P. 12 (b) (6), 365 Mass. 754 (1974), or, alternatively, for summary judgment under Mass. R. Civ. P. 56, 365 Mass. 824 (1974). A Superior Court judge considered the defendants' motion as one pursuant to Mass. R. Civ. P. 12 (b) (1), 365 Mass. 754 (1974), and allowed the motion on the ground that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution precludes civil courts from adjudicating disputes between a priest and her diocese. We granted the defendants' application for direct appellate review, and we now affirm the judgment of dismissal.
We begin by summarizing the factual background of this dispute, incorporating relevant facts alleged by the plaintiff in her complaint and supporting affidavit, as well as undisputed facts presented in documents submitted by the parties that were considered by the judge. In 1989, the plaintiff was hired by the Diocese to be director of liturgical life at Saint Andrew's, and to act as liaison between the deaf community and the Diocese. Part of the plaintiff's job was to advocate for the members of her congregation and defend their rights under civil and canon law. During the eight years of her employment, the plaintiff claims, she was treated disparately as compared to her male counterparts, including, but not limited to, her rate of pay and benefits. When the plaintiff complained of the disparate treatment, she was either ignored, had her salary and benefits frozen or reduced, or was told that she had no civil or ecclesiastical right to question the treatment she received.
Specifically, the plaintiff's affidavit states that, when she interviewed for the position at Saint Andrew's, she was given an information packet that contained a salary and benefit range that was above the level of compensation she eventually received for her work. Her complaints to the Diocesan treasurer regarding the insufficient travel allowance provided her, according to the plaintiff, marked "the start of a pattern of behavior directed at [her] that was not directed at [her] male counterparts."
The plaintiff's affidavit states that the presiding bishop of the Diocese at that time (the predecessor to the Bishop who is a defendant in this action) consistently discredited her work and excluded her from important meetings. He once attempted to fire the plaintiff. Shortly after a new presiding bishop (the defendant Shaw) was elected, the plaintiff discussed with him the discriminatory actions taken against her and informed him that she was considering legal action against the Diocese. The Bishop then expressed his desire to work things out with the plaintiff. Although she received regular salary raises for the next two years, the plaintiff states in her affidavit that she "do[es] not believe [she] was ever raised to the Diocesan minimum standard, nor to the level of [her] male counterparts." The plaintiff continued to feel ignored by the Diocese. When the plaintiff expressed interest in relocating her ministry from Saint Andrew's, due to the possibility of a gift of land on the North Shore that was adjacent to two institutions for the deaf, the plaintiff felt that the Bishop failed sufficiently to consider the matter. The plaintiff's affidavit states that "if [she] had not been a woman, [the Bishop] would have taken this issue seriously, which he didn't."
On April 21, 1997, on learning that the Bishop intended to conduct an evaluation of her ministry by outside consultants, the plaintiff tendered the Bishop her letter of resignation, effective July 31, 1997. The plaintiff's letter offered the following reasons for her resignation: (1) "the failure of the Episcopacy and the Episcopal staff to recognize and respect the primary role that the members of St. Andrew's must have in deciding, not only their own destiny, but also the direction of [d]eaf [m]inistry in the Diocese"; (2) the Bishop's ; (3) the lack of "advocacy and support, both tangible and emotional, from the Episcopacy" and the "cloud of distrust and animosity that ha[s] plagued this Diocese since before either [the Bishop or the plaintiff] were ordained"; and (4) the "inequity of salary and benefits" that she was receiving.
The judge allowed the defendants' motion to dismiss the plaintiff's claims on. the ground that the First Amendment deprived the Superior Court of subject matter jurisdiction.2 The judge recognized that the doctrine known as the "ministerial exception," adopted by Federal courts in the context of Federal employment discrimination suits, precludes civil courts from adjudicating employment discrimination suits by ministers against their church or religious institution. See McClure v. Salvation Army, 460 F.2d 553, 559-561 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 896 (1972) (). See also Combs v. Central Tex. Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, 173 F.3d 343, 348-349 (5th Cir. 1999); Schmoll v. Chapman Univ., 70 Cal. App. 4th 1434, 1436, 1438-1440 (1999); Van Osdol v. Vogt, 908 P.2d 1122, 1129, 1132-1133, 1134 (Colo. 1996); Newport Church of the Nazarene v. Hensley, 161 Or. App. 12, 22-23 (1999).
The "ministerial exception" doctrine is based on the premise that a minister's relationship to an organized church is intrinsically religious. Because civil resolution of disputes surrounding a minister's employment unavoidably would involve investigation and review of the church's practices and decisions with respect to, among other matters, the minister's assignment, salary, and duties, allowing jurisdiction of employment discrimination claims would result in governmental intrusion into an area of religious freedom forbidden by the principles of the First Amendment. See McClure v. Salvation Army, supra at 560 (). In the words of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in the McClure decision, as quoted by the judge: Id. at 558-559.
The judge reasoned that, given the "ministerial exception" doctrine's widespread acceptance in Federal and State appellate courts, including its application by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, see Natal v. Christian & Missionary Alliance, 878 F.2d 1575 (1st Cir. 1989), and Dowd v. Society of St. Columbans, 861 F.2d 761 (1st Cir. 1988), the doctrine should be applied to this case. The judge subsequently concluded that the exception "squarely addressed" the plaintiff's claims.
1. The plaintiff's primary claim on appeal is that the judge erred in applying the "ministerial exception" to this case, because the challenged employment decisions do not implicate religious beliefs, procedures, or law. She asserts an entitlement to the opportunity to prove that any assertion of a legitimate motive on the defendants' part is a pretext, and that she was constructively discharged solely because she is female. The plaintiff argues that courts should afford an aggrieved minister the same protections provided to plaintiffs in secular employment settings to investigate claims of illegal discrimination in the workplace. The plaintiff contends that the rule applied by the judge, which arbitrarily excludes employment discrimination claims by a minister against a church regardless of their basis, will lead to a situation where "any church and minister, no matter how outrageous and illegal the conduct, will be granted a...
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