JUNE 2024 | Volume 2 | Number 6
Welcome to the June 2024 edition of the ACCS Legal Update!
On this day, June 15th, 1215, English King John signed the Magna Carta which effectively ended the “Divine Right of Kings,” limiting the power of the monarchy. Also of great significance, though oft-forgotten, is that the charter was drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury and included provisions to protect the authority and freedom of the Church. And as any diligent history student knows, those provisions have been challenged ever since.
In this edition, we will address two such challenges, beginning with an update on Illinois H.B. 4867, previously discussed in the March 2024 ACCS Legal Update.
Update on Illinois H.B. 4867
In case you missed this story in our previous update, here is a brief recap:
On February 6th, 2024, Rep. Anna Moeller introduced a disturbing piece of legislation to the Illinois House of Representatives. The legislation (HB4867) would amend the current Illinois Human Rights Act, adding “to the definition of unlawful discrimination to include discrimination of reproductive health decisions.”
In Rep. Moeller’s synopsis, she writes, “Reproductive health decisions mean any decision by a person affecting the use or intended use of health care, goods, or services related to reproductive processes, functions, and systems, including, but not limited to, family planning, pregnancy testing, and contraception; fertility or sterilization care; miscarriage; continuation or termination of pregnancy; prenatal, intranatal, and postnatal care.”
A host of controversial issues are involved here: contraception, in-vitro fertilization (IVF), sterilization, abortion, partial-birth abortion, and more. In fact, the amendment goes so far as to include “unlawful discrimination against a person because of the person’s association with another person’s reproductive health decisions.”
While the wording of the amendment does not specifically target Christians, it is difficult to see how Rep. Moeller’s amendment would affect anyone other than Christian employers who wish to hire employees who share their beliefs and practices regarding reproductive issues.
Since our original report on H.B. 4867, the bill passed the Illinois House on April 16th and the Senate on May 26th. Governor J.B. Pritzker is expected to sign the bill into law. Currently, the Alliance Defending Freedom is contemplating a legal challenge.
Billard v. Diocese of Charlotte
In a case also related to hiring practices of Christian organizations, the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Fourth Circuit handed down its ruling in Billard v. Diocese of Charlotte. According to the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), the case “centers on an English and drama teacher who taught at Charlotte Catholic for more than a decade and knew that the school required its teachers to uphold its core religious values. However, when the school declined to employ him as a substitute teacher after he announced a same-sex relationship on social media in 2014, Billard and the ACLU accused the school and its diocese of sex discrimination prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.”
The Becket Fund, the law firm which served as counsel for the Diocese of Charlotte, noted that in order to teach at the school, the plaintiff (Lonnie Billard) “signed a contract agreeing to uphold teachings of the Catholic Church. But in 2015, he entered a same-sex marriage in knowing violation of Catholic teaching and made public statements on social media advocating against Church teaching.” The school then refused to allow Billard to continue teaching, in what would seem to be a simple breach of contract on the teacher’s part.
Shockingly, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina originally ruled against the school, claiming that Charlotte Catholic School and the Diocese of Charlotte had violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
Upon appeal, the Fourth Circuit Court unanimously sided with the school and Diocese. And, while this is a win based on the “ministerial exception” in Title VII, one of the Appeals Court justices noted that appealing to the exception should not have been necessary. Rather, a straightforward reading of Title VII should have made it clear that the school and the Diocese of Charlotte’s actions fell under religious exemption.
Grace & Peace,
Brian Phillips, Ed.D.
If you are in search of legal advice for you or your school, please consider the following resources: Brotherhood Mutual and Alliance Defending Freedom
Brian Phillips is the pastor of Holy Trinity Reformed Church (CREC – Concord, NC), teaches Rhetoric at Oaks Classical Christian Academy (Albemarle, NC), and is Board Vice Chairman for New Aberdeen College. Brian has also served as the Director of Consulting for The Circe Institute, Head of Upper School at Covenant Classical School (Concord, NC), and was an adjunct faculty member of Belmont Abbey College.
Dr. Phillips has an M.A. in Theological Studies, an M.A. in Classical Studies, an Ed.D. in Classical Education, and completed paralegal training at Duke University. He is also the author/editor of several books, including Sunday Mornings: An Introduction to Biblical Worship and the Canon Classics Guides to Dante’s Inferno and the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. Brian and his wife, Shannon, live in North Carolina with their four children and their German Shepherd, Ajax the Great.