Catholic medical clinic can dismiss an evangelical Christian proselytizer
• Christian Fundamentalism
SAN FRANCISCO -- Religious institutions cannot be held liable for discriminating against employees on the basis of religion, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday.
The state high court threw out a lawsuit by an evangelical Christian who was fired from a Catholic medical foundation after he proselytized to other employees.
The court held that the U.S. and California constitutions protect thousands of religious employers--including religious publishing houses, television and radio stations and churches and schools--from litigation, said Jeffrey A. Berman, who represented several churches and religious groups in the case.
File clerk Terence Silo had "been counseled three times previously ... regarding Soul Saving on clinic premises," the Catholic nonprofit employer wrote in Silo's termination papers.
A Superior Court jury awarded Silo damages and attorney fees, and a state Court of Appeal upheld the awards on the grounds that the state Constitution bars religious discrimination in the workplace. But the Supreme Court said Thursday that religious organizations have the right under the 1st Amendment to "define themselves and their religious message" and may fire workers for "objectionable religious speech."