Religion & American Law

Emily Herx was a literature and language arts teacher for seven years at a Catholic school in Indiana. For years she had been trying to have a second child, and elected to go through vitro fertilization as a means to achieve her second pregnancy. She was shocked to learn that her contract with the school would not be renewed due to her procedure. Her religious employers had deemed her a “grave, immoral sinner” for the use of the vitro fertilization, and felt she was no longer fit to teach at their institution. Emily filed a federal lawsuit against the school and the local diocese on the grounds of sex discrimination. The school responded to the lawsuit claiming that they were exempt from the federal anti-discrimination laws because “their decision to fire Emily was motivated by sincerely held religious beliefs.” After a four-day trial, the jury found that the school had in fact discriminated against Emily, and awarded her a $1.9 million settlement.

            In principle, I agree with the courts decision to award Emily a settlement. In accordance with the free exercise clause, we all have the right to our beliefs. However, the church does not have the right to discriminate on the grounds of their beliefs. My contention with the case comes from the healthcare side of the issue. Part of the healthcare program the school provided for Mrs. Herx would have gone toward the payment of her procedure. When there is a financial stake in her procedure, does the school have the right to terminate her employment? Does their right to discriminate extend when they are forced to pay for the procedure that their beliefs fundamentally denounce? In this case, I believe it does. The Catholic school is a private organization, and I believe that their financial matters warrant their right to deny Mrs. Herx employment. The families who choose to send their children to this school pay tuition, which goes toward the operations and maintenance of the school. Every dollar that goes into this school does so with the expectation of their children receiving an education that is grounded in catholic roots. I don’t believe that the families would approve of the allocation of funds toward healthcare procedures that go directly against their deepest beliefs. I believe that the only reason the church has any grounds to terminate Mrs. Herx’s employment come from this fiscal perspective. Had the church held no financial stake in the matter, I believe they have no right to discriminate against Mrs. Herx.

Where do you stand regarding the sex discrimination in this case? Do you feel that the fiscal entanglement between the church and Mrs. Herx’s procedure warrants their right to terminate her employment?