Americans United was joined by seven religious and civil rights organizations March 5 urging the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision that five employers which provide nonreligious social services, but are associated with the Catholic Church, are not entitled to a religious exemption from paying state unemployment taxes.
AU and its allies filed a friend-of-the-court brief in Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission. In the brief, the organizations reminded the court of the country’s multi-century tradition of laws and courts relying on objective factors to determine whether entities qualify for religious exemptions.
The brief warns that if the Supreme Court adopts the rationale of Catholic Charities and its lawyers at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, any entity that claims a religious motivation could exempt itself from laws protecting employees, civil rights and much more — all with no objective review from courts.
“This case is part of a dangerous trend: Christian Nationalist legal groups want employers who claim a religious motive to be able to sidestep worker protection requirements without any court review of the claim,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United. “The employer might work in a secular business, operate in a secular way, receive government funding and hire people of all religions or none, but still be exempt from important safeguards on religious grounds. If the Christian Nationalists succeed, the mere invocation of religious beliefs would be allowed to erase important social safety nets and worker and civil rights protections.”
Organizations joining Americans United’s brief include the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation; ACLU of Wisconsin; Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice; Interfaith Alliance; National Council of Jewish Women; Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association; and Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus.
The brief’s authors include Americans United Associate Vice President and Associate Legal Director Alex J. Luchenitser and Litigation Fellow Jess Zalph.