{"id":671,"date":"2017-08-04T17:57:33","date_gmt":"2017-08-04T17:57:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/?p=671"},"modified":"2020-07-31T13:27:55","modified_gmt":"2020-07-31T13:27:55","slug":"educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/2017\/08\/04\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\/","title":{"rendered":"Educational Institutions Affiliated with Religious Organizations May Be Liable Under Massachusetts Law For Hiring or Firing Based on Religious Principles"},"content":{"rendered":"
Massachusetts statute G. L. c. 151B prohibits, among other things, employers from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation. \u00a0There are two statutory provisions, however, which limit the scope of the statute as it applies to religiously-affiliated educational institutions taking action based on religious principles with respect to matters of employment. \u00a0The first provision, found in G. L. c. 151B \u00a71(5), exempts from the definition of “employer” educational institutions \u00a0that are “operated supervised or controlled by or in connection with a religious organization, and which limit[] membership, enrollment, admission, or participation to members of that religious organization.” \u00a0The second provision, found in G. L. c. 151B \u00a74(18), exempts from the statute “any organization operated for charitable or educational purposes, which is operated, supervised or controlled by or in connection with a religious organization,” and does not include any language indicating that it only applies to institutions which limit their membership to members of their own religious denomination.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

The tension between these two statutory provisions was addressed by the Massachusetts Superior Court in the case of Barrett v. Fontbonne Academy, 33 Mass. L. Rptr. 287 (2015). \u00a0 In that case, the plaintiff Barrett alleged that his already-accepted employment offer was wrongfully rescinded in violation of G. L. c. 151B after Fontbonne Academy, a Catholic preparatory school, discovered that he was homosexual and married to a man. \u00a0 Fontbonne Academy argued, in its defense, that it was exempt from liability under G. L. c. 151B \u00a74(18).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The court ruled in favor of Barrett and held that Fontbonne Academy was not exempt from G. L. c. 151B. \u00a0In doing so, the court concluded that the limiting language in \u00a71(5) modified the more broad language in s.4(18), reasoning that such a construction was more consistent with the purpose of the statute. \u00a0Because Fontbonne Academy admitted non-Catholic students and did not require its employees to be Catholic (with the exception of its administration and theology faculty), it did not, according to the court, “limit its membership, enrollment, admission, or participation” to members of the Catholic faith within the meaning of \u00a71(5), and therefore was found to be not exempt from G. L. c. 151B.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0The decision in Barrett v. Fontbonne Academy was only a trial court order, and as such is not a binding interpretation of Massachusetts law. \u00a0Nevertheless, any future appellate court considering this issue will surely be informed, and quite possibly persuaded, by the Barrett decision. \u00a0For now, the state of the law remains unsettled.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
Client Tip:<\/strong>\u00a0Institutions should consult an attorney before taking action with respect to hiring or firing based on religious principles.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Massachusetts statute G. L. c. 151B prohibits, among other things, employers from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.  There are two statutory provisions, however, which limit the scope of the statute as it applies to religiously-affiliated educational institutions…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[17,19,20],"class_list":["post-671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-religion","tag-discrimination","tag-religious-beliefs","tag-sexual-orientation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEducational Institutions Affiliated with Religious Organizations May Be Liable Under Massachusetts Law For Hiring or Firing Based on Religious Principles - Campus Counsel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/2017\/08\/04\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Educational Institutions Affiliated with Religious Organizations May Be Liable Under Massachusetts Law For Hiring or Firing Based on Religious Principles - Campus Counsel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Massachusetts statute G. L. c. 151B prohibits, among other things, employers from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.  There are two statutory provisions, however, which limit the scope of the statute as it applies to religiously-affiliated educational institutions…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/2017\/08\/04\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Campus Counsel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-04T17:57:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-31T13:27:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brian Mullin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brian Mullin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bowditch.com\\\/campuscounselnewengland\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/04\\\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bowditch.com\\\/campuscounselnewengland\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/04\\\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brian Mullin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bowditch.com\\\/campuscounselnewengland\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/233c88a69f0542f915e04ed135bf9895\"},\"headline\":\"Educational Institutions Affiliated with Religious Organizations May Be Liable Under Massachusetts Law For Hiring or Firing Based on Religious Principles\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-04T17:57:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-31T13:27:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bowditch.com\\\/campuscounselnewengland\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/04\\\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":453,\"keywords\":[\"discrimination\",\"religious beliefs\",\"sexual orientation\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Religion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bowditch.com\\\/campuscounselnewengland\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/04\\\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bowditch.com\\\/campuscounselnewengland\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/04\\\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\\\/\",\"name\":\"Educational Institutions Affiliated with Religious Organizations May Be Liable Under Massachusetts Law For Hiring or Firing Based on Religious Principles - Campus Counsel\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bowditch.com\\\/campuscounselnewengland\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-04T17:57:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-31T13:27:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bowditch.com\\\/campuscounselnewengland\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/233c88a69f0542f915e04ed135bf9895\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bowditch.com\\\/campuscounselnewengland\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/04\\\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bowditch.com\\\/campuscounselnewengland\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/04\\\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bowditch.com\\\/campuscounselnewengland\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/04\\\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bowditch.com\\\/campuscounselnewengland\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Educational Institutions Affiliated with Religious Organizations May Be Liable Under Massachusetts Law For Hiring or Firing Based on Religious Principles\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bowditch.com\\\/campuscounselnewengland\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bowditch.com\\\/campuscounselnewengland\\\/\",\"name\":\"Campus Counsel\",\"description\":\"A legal blog written for administrators, HR professionals, in-house counsel, and deans at colleges and universities\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bowditch.com\\\/campuscounselnewengland\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bowditch.com\\\/campuscounselnewengland\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/233c88a69f0542f915e04ed135bf9895\",\"name\":\"Brian Mullin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6ba252dbdd4dd3c10ab598dc6706282731d3005b0e028b991aee68bdda89f98f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6ba252dbdd4dd3c10ab598dc6706282731d3005b0e028b991aee68bdda89f98f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6ba252dbdd4dd3c10ab598dc6706282731d3005b0e028b991aee68bdda89f98f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brian Mullin\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bowditch.com\\\/campuscounselnewengland\\\/author\\\/brian-mullin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Educational Institutions Affiliated with Religious Organizations May Be Liable Under Massachusetts Law For Hiring or Firing Based on Religious Principles - Campus Counsel","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/2017\/08\/04\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Educational Institutions Affiliated with Religious Organizations May Be Liable Under Massachusetts Law For Hiring or Firing Based on Religious Principles - Campus Counsel","og_description":"Massachusetts statute G. L. c. 151B prohibits, among other things, employers from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.  There are two statutory provisions, however, which limit the scope of the statute as it applies to religiously-affiliated educational institutions…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/2017\/08\/04\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\/","og_site_name":"Campus Counsel","article_published_time":"2017-08-04T17:57:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-31T13:27:55+00:00","author":"Brian Mullin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brian Mullin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/2017\/08\/04\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/2017\/08\/04\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\/"},"author":{"name":"Brian Mullin","@id":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/#\/schema\/person\/233c88a69f0542f915e04ed135bf9895"},"headline":"Educational Institutions Affiliated with Religious Organizations May Be Liable Under Massachusetts Law For Hiring or Firing Based on Religious Principles","datePublished":"2017-08-04T17:57:33+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-31T13:27:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/2017\/08\/04\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\/"},"wordCount":453,"keywords":["discrimination","religious beliefs","sexual orientation"],"articleSection":["Religion"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/2017\/08\/04\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/2017\/08\/04\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\/","name":"Educational Institutions Affiliated with Religious Organizations May Be Liable Under Massachusetts Law For Hiring or Firing Based on Religious Principles - Campus Counsel","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-08-04T17:57:33+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-31T13:27:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/#\/schema\/person\/233c88a69f0542f915e04ed135bf9895"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/2017\/08\/04\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/2017\/08\/04\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/2017\/08\/04\/educational-institutions-affiliated-with-religious-organizations-may-be-liable-under-massachusetts-law-for-hiring-or-firing-based-on-religious-principles\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Educational Institutions Affiliated with Religious Organizations May Be Liable Under Massachusetts Law For Hiring or Firing Based on Religious Principles"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/","name":"Campus Counsel","description":"A legal blog written for administrators, HR professionals, in-house counsel, and deans at colleges and universities","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/#\/schema\/person\/233c88a69f0542f915e04ed135bf9895","name":"Brian Mullin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6ba252dbdd4dd3c10ab598dc6706282731d3005b0e028b991aee68bdda89f98f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6ba252dbdd4dd3c10ab598dc6706282731d3005b0e028b991aee68bdda89f98f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6ba252dbdd4dd3c10ab598dc6706282731d3005b0e028b991aee68bdda89f98f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brian Mullin"},"url":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/author\/brian-mullin\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd7MiR-aP","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}