Three Court Cases

Religion-

Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

 In 1999, Cheryl Perich started teaching at Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School in. While Perich led students in prayer and taught a religion class several days a week, her job Redford, Michigan primarily consisted of teaching grade school art, science, social studies and music. In 2004, Perich left on disability and was diagnosed with narcolepsy. In 2005, after being cleared by her doctors to go back to work, the school told her that they already hired someone else. Perich then threatened to file suit, so the school promptly fired her for "insubordination and disruptive behavior." All nine Supreme Court justices agreed with the decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts that "the Establishment Clause prevents the Government from appointing ministers, and the Free Exercise Clause prevents it from interfering with the freedom of religious groups to select their own." Moreover, because the respondent in this case was a minister within the meaning of the minis­terial exception, the First Amendment requires dismissal of her em­ployment discrimination suit against her religious employer.


Minority-

Ricci v. DeStefano

 557 U.S. 557 (2009), was a contentious decision by the United States Supreme Court concerning racially discriminatory employment practices by New Haven, Connecticut's fire department. Eighteen city firefighters, seventeen who were white and one who was Hispanic, brought suit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 after they had passed the test for promotions to management and the city had nevertheless declined to promote them. New Haven officials invalidated the test results because none of the black firefighters who passed the exam had scored high enough to be considered for the positions. They stated that they feared a lawsuit over the test's adverse impact on a protected minority. The Supreme Court heard the case on April 22, 2009, and issued its decision on June 29, 2009. The Court held 5–4 that New Haven's decision to ignore the test results violated Title VII because the city did not have a "strong basis in evidence" that it would have subjected itself to disparate-impact liability if it had promoted the white and Hispanic firefighters instead of the black firefighters.

School System-

Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1

Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, 551 U.S. 701 (2007), also known as the "PICS" case, is a United States Supreme Court case. At issue were voluntary school desegregation/integration efforts in Seattle, WA and Louisville, KY. Both school districts voluntarily used individualized racial classifications to achieve diversity and/or avoid racial isolation through student assignment. The Court recognized that seeking diversity and avoiding racial isolation are compelling state interests. However, the Court struck down both school districts’ assignment plans, finding that the plans were not sufficiently "narrowly tailored," a legal term that essentially suggests that the means or method being employed (in this case, a student assignment plan based on individualized racial classifications) is closely and narrowly tied to the ends (the stated goals of achieving diversity and/or avoiding racial isolation)