Hosanna-​​Tabor Lutheran Church

Hosanna-​​Tabor v. EEOC asks a series of fas­ci­nat­ing ques­tions about the First Amend­ment, the Sep­a­ra­tion of Church and State, the rights of employ­ees, and the con­sti­tu­tional lim­i­ta­tions of the Fed­eral gov­ern­ment. See here for the offi­cial filing.

The Lit­i­gants

The Hosanna-​​Tabor Evan­gel­i­cal Lutheran Church in Red­ford, Michi­gan was founded in 1955 as the amal­gam of the Tabor Lutheran Church (estab­lished 1916) and the Hosanna Lutheran Church (est. 1948). There is a parochial school attached to the church, the Con­cor­dia Lutheran School, which was sued in 2004, by the Equal Employ­ment Oppor­tu­nity Com­mis­sion (EEOC), under the Amer­i­cans with Dis­abil­i­ties Act (ADA), for fir­ing a teacher. The Church is appeal­ing the right of the EEOC to sue, and claim­ing the ADA does not apply. The ques­tion before the court is not the mer­its of the under­ly­ing case, but rather whether the suit should be allowed. Hosanna-​​Tabor is thus the Peti­tioner, and the EEOC is the Respon­dent. (more…)