A Catholic school principal who claims she was made a scapegoat for involving police in an incident that proved embarrassing for the Roman Catholic diocese that oversees the Naperville school, cannot sue the school for her termination, because the diocese’s actions are protected by constitutional religious freedom guarantees.
On Feb. 4, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled lower courts were correct in determining the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of the First Amendment blocks state courts from intervening in most employment disputes involving religious schools.
The decision centered on a lawsuit brought against the Joliet Diocese by Mary Rehfield, the former principal at St. Raphael Catholic school in west suburban Naperville.
Julie B. Porter
| Salvatore Prescott Porter & Porter
Rehfield filed suit in 2017, accusing the Joliet Diocese of retaliatory discharge and of violating her rights as a “whistleblower.”
According to court documents and published reports, Rehfield reported to police a threatening voicemail left for a Catholic priest who oversees the school by a man who was allegedly concerned over bullying he claimed his child had experienced at the school.
After the incident was reported in the local newspaper, parents called for Rehfield to be fired. The parents said they believed Rehfield knew of prior threatening behavior from the man, yet did nothing about it.
According to court documents, Rehfield had dealt with earlier interactions with the man at the direction of the priest to whom the allegedly threatening message was directed.
Rehfield said she was scapegoated for decisions made by the Diocese itself in how to deal with the situation. She said she was allowed to take the fall for a situation that embarrassed the school and the Diocese, after it became public.
Rehfield had worked in education for 43 years at the time of her dismissal, according to court papers. She had been principal at St. Raphael since 2012.
The courts – including an Illinois appellate court – determined the Diocese, as a religious organization, is protected by the First Amendment from government review of most of its hiring and firing decisions, under the so-called “ministerial exception.”
In appealing to the state Supreme Court, Rehfield argued that exception shouldn’t apply in this case because she was fired for being a “whistleblower,” reporting criminal conduct to the police.
The state Supreme Court, however, ruled the usual First Amendment exceptions established by U.S. Supreme Court decisions still apply.
The opinion was authored by Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne M. Burke. The decision was unanimous. Justice Robert Carter took no part in the decision.
Rehfield’s contract described her position as a “lay” employee, meaning, while she is a Catholic, she is not a member of the clergy. Further, Rehfield argued her job as principal was primarily a secular role, and not “ministerial.”
However, the chief justice said that distinction is not sufficient to defeat the Joliet Diocese’s rights under the ministerial exception.
In the decision, Burke noted the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled educators in religious schools, even if they teach primarily secular subject matters, can still be treated as “ministers,” subject to the religious discipline of the church or other religious body that oversees the school. As such, such educators can be fired in many instances without recourse under state or federal law.
Burke said Rehfield is among that class of religious school educators that churches can designate as “ministers.”
She noted Rehfield was required to be a practicing Catholic; to agree to be governed by the Diocesan handbook; to “provide an identifiably Catholic atmosphere in the school;” and “establish student-instructional programs that include regular religious education, and develop and participate in religious programming for staff.”
“Moreover, as principal, plaintiff was expected to represent not only the school but also the Diocese to parents, the parish community, and the public,” Chief Justice Burke wrote. “Thus, although her formal title (‘lay principal’) does not necessarily indicate a religious role, it is apparent from the record that plaintiff’s job duties entailed numerous religious functions in furtherance of the school’s Catholic mission.”
Burke said this means the “ministerial exception bars her whistleblower claim.”
Rehfield is represented by attorney Julie B. Porter, of Salvatore Prescott Porter & Porter, of Evanston.
The Joliet Diocese is represented by attorney Maureen A. Harton, of Crest Hill.