( Washington Times ) - The Supreme Court on Monday rejected two cases involving the ouster of religious leaders, one brought by a church and the other by a private school.
The religious institutions had argued that the First Amendment’s jurisprudence and ministerial exemption, which bars legal claims brought by religious employees against a church, require courts to dismiss the lawsuits, leaving the internal dispute to the church.
One case was brought by Alexander Belya against the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. He claimed the church defamed him after he was removed from an elected leadership role over allegedly breaching the seal of confession, controlling parishioners and not accounting for church property.