Combs v. Central Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding that the free exercise clause prohibited application of Title VII to a church's decision to terminate a minister
• employment claims by ministers “necessarily intrude into church governance in a manner that would be inherently coercive, even if the alleg[ations] [] were purely nondoctrinal”
• employment claims by ministers “necessarily intrude into church governance in a manner that would be inherently coercive, even if the alleg[ations] [] were purely nondoctrinal”
• \We cannot conceive how the federal judiciary could determine whether an employment decision concerning a minister was based on legitimate grounds without inserting ourselves into a realm where the Constitution forbids us to tread.\
• “We cannot conceive how the federal judiciary could determine whether an employment decision concerning a minister was based on legitimate grounds without inserting ourselves into a realm where the Constitution forbids us to tread.”
• “[S]ecular authorities would be involved in evaluating or interpreting religious doctrine.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).