Young v. N. ILL. CONF. OF UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, No. 92 C 7202.
| Decision Date | 19 April 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 92 C 7202. |
| Citation | 818 F. Supp. 1206 |
| Parties | Darreyl N. YOUNG, Plaintiff, v. The NORTHERN ILLINOIS CONFERENCE OF UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, The Board of Ordained Ministry, and R. Sheldon Duecker, as the presiding Bishop of The Board of Ordained Ministry, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
Gerald A. Goldman, Arthur R. Ehrlich, Goldman & Marcus, Chicago, IL, for plaintiff.
Samuel W. Witwer, Jr., Gregory Nathan Freerksen, Jennifer Kae Poltrock, Witwer, Burlage, Poltrock & Giampietro, Chicago, IL, for defendants.
Before the court is the defendants' motion to dismiss pursuant to Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. For the reasons stated below, the motion is granted.
Plaintiff Darreyl N. Young ("Young"), a female black African-American, served as a probationary minister for the United Methodist Church in Chicago, Illinois. For four years she acted as a pastor and preached sermons for the church in this capacity. According to the complaint, she received excellent references and ratings from her superiors during those four years. When Young applied for a position as "Elder," or "Clergy Member in Full Connection," ("Elder") within the Methodist Church, she received a favorable recommendation from her supervisor for this position. In response to Young's application for the position of Elder, the defendants Northern Illinois Conference of United Methodist Church, the Board of Ordained Ministry (the "Board"), and the Board's presiding bishop, R. Sheldon Duecker (collectively, "defendants") established a panel to review Young's application. Young maintains that there were no black female members on this review panel. On March 24, 1992 the defendants denied Young the appointment as an Elder on her first attempt, and discontinued Young as a minister in the church without recommending that Young's status as a probationary minister continue. The Board rejected, although it had available, the favorable recommendation of Young's supervising Elder. Young additionally asserts that, although it is a qualification for becoming an Elder that the applicant have preached or given a sermon in the past, the defendants criticized Young's preaching skills without having the benefit of ever hearing her sermons. Young does not allege whether there are any black African-American or female Elders in the church.
Young filed suit on October 29, 1992 alleging that the defendants' actions constituted sex and race discrimination, and were taken in retaliation for her advocacy of minority rights and her vocal criticism of the church on minority issues, all in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. ("Title VII"). After Young filed a timely complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), the EEOC entered a final decision on July 30, 1992, and issued a right to sue letter around August 1992.
Young claims that other probationary ministers seeking appointment as an Elder have always had representatives of their sex and race on the Board's review panel; that the Board has never discontinued other probationary members on their first attempt to obtain the Elder position; and that the Board always followed the recommendation of supervising Elders when making the promotion determination. As a consequence of the Board's determination, Young has been removed from her church and has been denied any opportunity for advancement within the Methodist Church. Young seeks in this suit, in addition to compensatory and punitive damages for her loss of pay and her emotional distress, that the court order her reinstatement as a probationary minister and that the court order a new review of her application for the Elder position in accordance with the defendants' "usual and customary practices...."
Concerned with the requested relief, the defendants filed the present motion to dismiss on November 20, 1992. Defendants primarily assert that the court is without jurisdiction to adjudicate the claims brought against them and also that the complaint fails to state a claim.
Lack of subject matter jurisdiction is appropriately raised in a motion to dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1). Barnhart v. United States, 884 F.2d 295, 296 (7th Cir. 1989), cert. denied, 495 U.S. 957, 110 S.Ct. 2561, 109 L.Ed.2d 743 (1990). Additionally, the court will grant a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim if there is no set of facts upon which to grant legal relief. Ross v. Creighton Univ., 957 F.2d 410, 413 (7th Cir.1992). The court accepts the allegations in Young's complaint as true without, of course, vouching for their veracity as it must when deciding a motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). Johnson v. Martin, 943 F.2d 15, 16 (7th Cir.1991).
The defendants' position is that granting Young's request for relief in this case would violate the first amendment's protection of the free exercise of religion and thus the first amendment deprives the court of jurisdiction over Young's claims. The court should avoid the constitutional question. Indeed, federal courts are counseled to skirt constitutional questions if reaching them is unnecessary to deciding the case. See International Ass'n of Machinists v. Street, 367 U.S. 740, 749-50, 81 S.Ct. 1784, 1789-90, 6 L.Ed.2d 1141 (1961). Nevertheless, if the defendants are employers engaged in an industry affecting commerce within the breadth of § 701(b), (f), and (h) of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b), (f), (h), and sex or race entered the decision to discontinue Young as a probationary minister, then this would activate Title VII's edicts. Therefore, a potential conflict with the religion clauses of the first amendment becomes apparent because the court's adjudication of a sex- or race-based discrimination claim in this instance may substantially entangle the court in the church's religious mission, doctrines, activities, and hierarchy. Dolter v. Wahlert High School, 483 F.Supp. 266, 270-71 (N.D.Iowa 1980). The complaint reveals that the relief Young requests includes an order to reinstate Young to her probationary ministerial position and force the defendants to conduct a new review of her application for the Elder position in the Methodist Church. Presumably this would include ordering the makeup of the committee as suggested by Young.
This creates a predicament. By granting Young relief, the court may be getting entangled in the religious affairs of the defendants. On the other hand, courts cannot immunize from governmental regulations all types of religious activity, especially from laws designed to protect health, safety, morality, and the general welfare. See Gary C. Leedes, Court-Ordered Exemptions to Secure Religious Liberty, 21 U.RICH.L.REV. 335, 338 (1987). It cannot be denied that there exists a strong federal interest and court commitment to eradicating discrimination in this country. Cf. Roberts v. United States Jaycees, 468 U.S. 609, 621-23, 104 S.Ct. 3244, 3251-53, 82 L.Ed.2d 462 (1984) (); Susan L. Pacholski, Title VII in the University: The Difference Academic Freedom Makes, 59 U.CHI.L.REV. 1317, 1318 (1992) (). It is the clash between social legislation aimed at remedying discrimination and first amendment rights that is the concern in the present case.
The court should first determine whether there is a clear expression of an affirmative intention of Congress that religious organizations are covered by Title VII. See N.L.R.B. v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago, 440 U.S. 490, 504, 99 S.Ct. 1313, 1320, 59 L.Ed.2d 533 (1979). The court concludes that it is not deprived of jurisdiction to entertain Title VII claims merely because the defendants are religious entities. The statute recognizes that claims for discrimination in employment on account of race, national origin, or sex are cognizable against religious entities. Rayburn v. General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, 772 F.2d 1164, 1166 (4th Cir.1985) (), cert. denied, 478 U.S. 1020, 106 S.Ct. 3333, 92 L.Ed.2d 739 (1986); E.E.O.C. v. Pacific Press Pub. Ass'n, 676 F.2d 1272, 1278 (9th Cir.1982) (); E.E.O.C. v. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 651 F.2d 277, 287 (5th Cir.1981) (), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 905, 102 S.Ct. 1749, 72 L.Ed.2d 161 (1982); E.E.O.C. v. Mississippi College, 626 F.2d 477, 486-89 (5th Cir.1980) (), cert. denied, 453 U.S. 912, 101 S.Ct. 3143, 69 L.Ed.2d 994 (1981); Elbaz v. Congregation Beth Judea, Inc., 812 F.Supp. 802, 803-04 (N.D.Ill.1992) (); Whitney v. Greater N.Y. Corp. of Seventh-Day Adventists, 401 F.Supp. 1363, 1368 (S.D.N.Y.1975) (typist-receptionist for Seventh-Day Adventist Church). This is so because Congress only exempted religious organizations, entities, or educational facilities from claims based on religious discrimination and only under certain limited circumstances. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-1, 2000e-2; Pime v. Loyola University of Chicago, 803 F.2d 351, 357-58 (7th Cir.1986). This exemption did not cover race-, national origin-, or sex-based claims. This evidences that Congress intended Title VII to apply to religious entities with only some specific exemptions. See Rayburn, 772 F.2d at 1167 ().
No other construction of Title VII will remove the constitutional question. See Machinists, 367 U.S. at 749-50, 81 S.Ct. at 1789-90. Although the...
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