April 23, 2007

Supreme Court Declines Case Questioning Catholic College's Power to Fire Chaplain

The U.S. Supreme Court let stand today a lower-court ruling that upheld a Roman Catholic university’s right to oust its chaplain over her outspoken criticism of administrators.

The case of Lynette M. Petruska, who had been the first female chaplain ever at Gannon University, has bounced back and forth among courts. A federal district judge dismissed the case in 2005, ruling that the case fell within what is known as the “ministerial exception.” That longstanding legal principle states that religious institutions may hire and fire people, based on their religious preferences, and that those institutions may decide who will represent them in all spiritual matters.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled unexpectedly last May that Ms. Petruska’s case could proceed to trial, suggesting that the “ministerial exception” was being called into question. However, another three-judge panel of the circuit court reversed that decision in September.

Ms. Petruska was named Gannon’s chaplain in 1999, and shortly thereafter she spoke out against the university’s efforts to cover up sexual misdeeds by the president at the time. Ms. Petruska was told that she would be demoted, and she resigned in 2002, thinking she was about to be fired. She alleged in her lawsuit, among other claims, that her contract was breached, and that she was discriminated against based on her gender. —Martin Van Der Werf

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