CORONA (CA): Questions linger about Christian school's firings over religion

[rug]

Crossroads Christian Schools dismissed 11 employees four years ago, but the legal matters surrounding the firings haven’t been resolved.



Crossroads church fired 11 employees in 2010 because they did not have the same beliefs. Two of the ex-employees won a case before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission but the EEOC apparently won't pursue the case further. (TERRY PIERSON, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

BY DAVID OLSON / STAFF WRITER
Published: May 18, 2014 Updated: May 19, 2014 1:57 p.m.

Four years after Corona’s Crossroads Christian Schools fired 11 employees for their religious beliefs, legal experts disagree as to whether the dismissals violated the law.

In May 2013, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found “reasonable cause to believe” that the conservative evangelical Christian school violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by dismissing the four teachers and seven other employees, most of whom are Catholic.

But the EEOC opted not to file a lawsuit, and the two fired employees who complained to the commission also haven’t sued.

The hiring and dismissal policy remains in place, Crossroads spokeswoman Kasey Husen said.

http://www.pe.com/articles/school-694811-crossroads-religious.html

This is ironic.

[shenmue]

1. Heresy trials

That's what's next.

[rug]

2. I would hope the Catholic schools look at their own employment contracts first.

[cbayer]

3. Wasn't there some ruling a while back that said

that you could fire or not hire a person based on their religious beliefs if the position including the teaching of beliefs?

Or was that something else?

[rug]

4. There is a clergy exemption in employment law but I don't know the facts here.

http://www.pewforum.org/2011/03/31/churches-in-court3/

[cbayer]

5. I was thinking about something else, but I honestly don't remember enough about

it to find the details.