VICTORY — New Jersey Supreme Court Rules in Catholic School’s Favor After It Fired Teacher Who Violated Church Doctrine

A former teacher at the St. Theresa School, a Catholic elementary school in the Archdiocese of Newark, filed a lawsuit after the school fired her.

The employment contract that Victoria Crisitello signed prohibited premarital sex in adherence to church doctrine. The school fired the unmarried teacher after she became pregnant. Crisitello sued the school for discrimination based on pregnancy and marital status — even though she’d agreed to follow the rules.

The lower court granted summary judgment in the school’s favor, citing a state law that protects religious institutions that require employees to abide by religious doctrine. The court also ruled that the First Amendment barred Crisitello’s claims. The appeals court reversed the ruling, however, contending that the First Amendment did not bar her claims nor “carefully measured discovery.”

On remand, the lower court ruled in the school’s favor again, and the appeals court reversed that ruling as well.

The case ended up before the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and that court ruled in St. Theresa’s favor.

The court contended that state law allows a “religious tenets” exception to state employment laws, and “it is uncontroverted that St. Theresa’s followed the religious tenets of the Catholic Church in terminating Crisitello,” the judge wrote (PDF). “St. Theresa’s was therefore entitled to summary judgment and the dismissal of the complaint with prejudice.”

Becket Law submitted an amicus brief in the case on behalf of its client, the Agudath Israel of America, an Orthodox Jewish organization in New Jersey. Becket also argued the case on appeal.

Becket explained that church autonomy—which provides religious groups the power to decide matters of faith, doctrine, and internal governance—protects Orthodox Jewish schools and other religious schools. 

“This decision is a victory for all religious schools in the state of New Jersey, but it is especially important for Orthodox Jews,” said Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket. “There are too many examples in history of governments interfering with Jewish schools, or worse. Today the Court did the right thing for Orthodox Jews and all other New Jerseyans by stopping this attempt to drag government into direct control of religious schools.”