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Pardue v. Center City Consortium Schools of the Archdiocese of Washington6/9/2005
Argued May 12, 2005
Before FARRELL and GLICKMAN, Associate Judges, and MOTLEY, Associate Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
Appellant Kathleen Pardue ("Pardue" or "appellant") sued the Archdiocese of Washington and others (collectively "the Archdiocese") under the District of Columbia Human Rights Act (the DCHRA) alleging discrimination and retaliation based on race. Pardue contended that the Archdiocese had unlawfully terminated her contract as principal of the St. Francis Xavier elementary school in the District. The termination was alleged to be part of a campaign by Mary Anne Stanton, the Executive Director of the Center City Consortium Schools of the Archdiocese of Washington, Inc., and others, "to eliminate Caucasian principals and replace them with less-qualified African-American rincipals." The trial court, Judge Boasberg, after allowing substantial but limited discovery, dismissed the complaint primarily on First Amendment grounds, concluding that the Free Exercise Clause - specifically the "ministerial exception" (as in religious "minister") recognized by a large number of courts - bars civil courts from adjudicating employment discrimination claims by ministers and similar persons exercising religious functions against the religious institution employing them. For the reasons that follow, we uphold the decision of the trial court.
I.
St. Francis Xavier is one of several Roman Catholic elementary schools making up The Center City Consortium Schools of the Archdiocese of Washington, Inc. The Consortium is a non-profit corporation organized for charitable, religious, and educational purposes. Formed by the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., it linked together, at the time, eight Catholic inner-city elementary schools to coordinate academics and curriculum, including religious instruction, finances, development, recruitment, community relations, professional development, facilities, procurement and personnel for member schools.
Ms. Pardue served as the principal of St. Francis Xavier School from mid-1996 until January 18, 2002, when, according to the complaint, she was forced to resign to avoid being terminated immediately and not receiving the remaining payments on her one-year contract. In her lawsuit, she alleged that when she inquired why she was effectively being fired, she was told that it was "because of alleged poor enrollment numbers and lack of leadership skills," but that the real reason was her race as a Caucasian. (She alleged in particular that her replacement was a non-Catholic African-American less qualified and with significantly less experience.) The Archdiocese moved to dismiss the lawsuit principally on the ground that the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment deprived the court of subject matter jurisdiction over what essentially was an ecclesiastical dispute. Factually, the Archdiocese asserted that the reasons why Pardue had been asked to resign included her "lack of commitment to a full program of regular religious instruction" at the school and her "poor working relationship with the pastor" of the school parish. But, it asserted, Pardue should not in any event be permitted to explore through civil discovery the ecclesiastical reasons supporting her termination.
Judge Boasberg initially ruled that, to help frame the issues more clearly for him, the parties could "conduct discovery (consisting of interrogatories, document requests, and requests for admission only) on the limited topic of the role and position of the principal of St. Francis Xavier School." After receiving and considering these materials, the judge concluded in a carefully written opinion that the court
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