First Amendment

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By Dov Kesselman and Samuel I. Rubinstein

Seyfarth Synopsis: After the past few years of favorable policy changes and court decisions, religious employers have to navigate the realities of a different presidential administration with its unique set of policy preferences.  The Department of Labor recently filed notices in two Court actions suggesting that it will be rescinding its prior faith-based …
Continue Reading Losing My Religion? How Faith-Based Employers Will Operate During the Biden Administration

By Eric W. May and Daniel C. Whang

Seyfarth Synopsis: In Biel v. St. James School, the Ninth Circuit once again split from other circuit courts, this time by narrowly construed an affirmative defense known as the “ministerial exception” that bars claims of employment discrimination brought by ministerial employees of religious institutions. The Ninth Circuit recently denied the …
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Narrowly Construes The First Amendment’s Ministerial Exception For Religious Institution Employers

By Marjorie Clara Soto, Kay J. Hazelwood, and Mary Kay Klimesh

Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit’s recent opinion in Yeasin v. Durham, No. 16-3367, 2018 WL 300553 (10th Cir. Jan. 5, 2018), addresses the “tension between some students’ free-speech rights and other students’ Title IX rights to receive an education …
Continue Reading Tenth Circuit Leaves Unresolved When Off-Campus Social Media Posts Can Subject Students to Discipline