Samuel J. Edwards
BHR 3565, Employment Law
Student ID: 199396
In the case of Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. Amos 483 U.S. 327 (1987), an employee was terminated from his job as a janitor in a church-owned gym and brought suit for religious discrimination under Title VII. The U.S. Supreme Court held that applying the religious exemption to Title VII’s prohibition against religious discrimination in employment to secular nonprofit activities of religious organizations did not violate the U.S. Constitution’s Establishment Clause (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2009). The employee Mayson, failed to qualify for a temple recommend, which is a certificate that he is a member of the Church and eligible to attend its temples. Temple recommends are issued only to individuals who observe the Church’s standards in such matters as regular church attendance, tithing, and abstinence from coffee, tea, alcohol, and tobacco. As a church employer in my religion, there are my perceived legitimate reasons why I would require that the building engineer be of the same religion. First, the standards of faith in my religion would be expected to be followed. If abstinence from coffee, tea, alcohol, and tobacco was included in my beliefs, I would not want an employee to use or consume those products on the church premises. Breaking the tenants of the church in full view of all members goes against good order and discipline and could be disruptive because offense could be taken. Simultaneously, the employee would feel offended or could be disrupted by the member’s opinion and their wishes for his removal. If the employee was in a mosque where members followed the word of Islam and he