“In 2011, supervisors in InterVarsity’s Grand Rapids, Mich., office put a “spiritual formation specialist,” Alyce Conlon, on paid leave to work on repairing her marriage. Later that year, the organization fired her when she and her husband moved forward with a divorce.”

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship on Thursday, maintaining a broad constitutional right for ministries to control their hiring and firing practices. This is one of the first major rulings under the precedent set by the Supreme Court’s 2012 determination in Hosanna Tabor v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

In 2011, supervisors in InterVarsity’s Grand Rapids, Mich., office put a “spiritual formation specialist,” Alyce Conlon, on paid leave to work on repairing her marriage. Later that year, the organization fired her when she and her husband moved forward with a divorce. In 2013, Conlon sued the campus ministry for wrongful termination, saying the ministry fired her but not two male employees in similar marital situations.

The 6th Circuit found it unnecessary to dwell on the details of the case because of the broad protections ministries have to make their own personnel decisions. The court acknowledged Conlon might have a “facially plausible claim under Title VII,” but that was irrelevant under Hosanna Tabor.

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