Discrimination Suit Won’t Play for Church Music Director

A fired church music director cannot use the federal courts to sue for age discrimination, the Seventh Circuit affirmed.

The court ruled that the selection of music at church is religious in nature. As a result, the First Amendment bars the music director’s suit against the church for age discrimination.

The case was filed after the music director, who was over 50 years of age, was fired and replaced with a younger person. The church maintained he was fired over a dispute as to what would be appropriate Easter music. “Federal courts are secular agencies. They therefore do not exercise jurisdiction over the internal affairs of religious organizations,” the court wrote.

The problem with the music director’s lawsuit stems from the fact that the church would defend its actions on church doctrine. “[T]he diocese would argue that he was dismissed for a religious reason-his opinion concerning the suitability of particular music for Easter services-and the argument could propel the court into a controversy, quintessentially religious, over what is suitable music for Easter services. Tomic would argue that the church’s criticism of his musical choices was a pretext for firing him, that the real reason was his age. The church would rebut with evidence of what the liturgically proper music is for an Easter Mass and Tomic might in turn dispute the church’s claim. The court would be asked to resolve a theological dispute,” the court found.

The music director’s role is different than other church employees due to the religious nature of his activities. “Since, as we have just seen, Tomic’s duties, unlike those, say, of the person who tunes the organ in St. Mary’s Cathedral, had a significant religious dimension, Tomic forfeited his rights” to sue for age discrimination, the court said.

Tomic v. Catholic Diocese of Peoria, Seventh Cir. No. 04-4219, April 4, 2006.