A federal judge ruled recently that Calvary Chapel Godspeak (Thousand Oaks) was within their rights to fire two teachers who worked at a separate Christian school it owned…because the teachers would not comply with requests to provide references from their pastors about their church attendance and their faith.
Lynda Serrano and Marie Ellen Guevara sued the church for “religious discrimination and wrongful termination” after they were fired for not cooperating with the church-owned school’s new policy.
The crux of the ruling focused on the First Amendment and the judge’s opinion that the church-owned school was within its rights to make the requests and then to fire personnel it deemed as non-compliant or not up to the religious standards set by the church-owned school…because the two teachers are akin to “ministers” since they lead the children in prayer and take them to “chapel” which is a form of church.
According to the L.A. Times: “A 2012 Supreme Court ruling gave religious organizations exemption from federal discrimination laws. The court ruled that the matter would be a case between two religious parties where the government cannot intervene.”
Link to full L.A. Times article here: http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-religious-school-lawsuit-20150330-story.html