Churches Are Free to Employ Members Only, High Court Says : Unanimous Ruling Reverses Judge in Mormon Case

Religious employers are free to hire only members of their own faith even for non-religious jobs, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously today.

The court said a 1972 anti-bias law exempting such employment discrimination is constitutional.

The decision reversed the ruling of a federal judge in Utah that religious employers may refuse to hire people outside their faith for “religious” activities only--and not for “secular” or non-religious jobs.

Today’s decision was a victory for officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose employment policies had been invalidated by the judge’s earlier ruling.

“A law is not unconstitutional simply because it allows churches to advance religion, which is their very purpose,” Justice Byron R. White wrote for the court.

Question Unanswered

The court’s ruling left unanswered whether religious employers are free to hire only members of their faith for jobs in profit-making ventures.

The decision said U.S. District Judge David K. Winder was wrong when he ordered Mormon officials to reinstate Arthur Mayson, with back pay, as an engineer responsible for maintaining the Deseret Gymnasium, owned and operated as a nonprofit business in Salt Lake City by the Mormon church.

Mayson is a Mormon but was fired for not becoming eligible for a “temple recommend,” signifying observance of the church’s religious standards.

Winder’s ruling struck down a 1972 amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The 1964 law generally bans discrimination in employment based on religion, but it made an exception to allow religious employers to restrict employment to “individuals of a particular religion to perform work connected with (their) religious activities.”

In the 1972 amendment, Congress deleted the word “religious” from the exception, thereby allowing religious employers to hire only members of their faith whether or not the work is religious in nature.

Judge Winder had ruled that Congress unlawfully aided religious employers in passing the 1972 amendment.

Ruling Appealed

The Mormon church and the Reagan Administration appealed Winder’s ruling directly to the Supreme Court, which overturned it today.

White said the 1972 law passes the three-part test created by the justices to determine whether an unconstitutional “establishment” of religion has occurred.

He said the law does not have a religious purpose, does not have the primary effect of advancing or inhibiting religion and does not unduly entangle government and religion.

In other action, the court:

- Limited the scope of a federal anti-fraud law, throwing out the convictions of a former Kentucky state official and a businessman accused in an insurance contract kickback scheme.

In a 7-2 decision involving a major scandal in the administration of former Democratic Gov. Julian Carroll, the court said the federal law is designed to protect money or property rights.

- Ruled that a computer operator in the Houston constable’s office who said she hoped someone would assassinate President Reagan was unlawfully fired.

By a 5-4 vote, the justices said the woman’s free speech rights were violated.