The question of whether employment-related lawsuits can be brought against religious organizations is one currently being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court…The “ministerial exception” prohibits such lawsuits from being filed by church employees performing religious functions.

…Ron Mollner, of Madison, sued the Nashville-based Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, and related entities for $1.5 million in Davidson County Circuit Court.

According to the lawsuit, Nollner and his wife, Beverly, went to New Delhi as missionaries in January 2009. Ron Nollner was hired by the Virginia-based International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention to oversee the construction of a 15,000-square-foot office building…

The lawsuit claims the Nollners were fired in retaliation after Ron Nollner discovered and complained about illegal and unsafe building practices at the job site and said the project’s architect and builder were paying bribes “in order to obtain necessary approvals and complete the project.”

“Mr. Nollner was even offered bribes himself (including a luxury SUV), which he refused,” the lawsuit states.

The International Mission Board “has yet to be served with a copy of the complaint that was apparently filed yesterday,” spokeswoman Wendy Norvelle said. “Once it is served, we will study the allegations and file an appropriate response…”

Phone messages left Friday afternoon with the Nollners and their attorneys, Edmund W. Turnley and Samuel D. Payne, were not returned.

Ron Nollner reported his concerns about bribes and construction practices to International Mission Board officials, but they “seemed unbothered, if not complicit,” according to the lawsuit, which states Nollner was subsequently asked to resign and told his position was “no longer necessary.”

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The lawsuit claims Nollner refused and was fired and that the International Mission Board’s stated reason for terminating him is “false and merely a sham or pretext to hide the true reason for terminating the Nollners.”
“At this point, the Nollners were left ‘scrambling’ to make arrangements to return and live in the United States,” the lawsuit states. “After some difficulty, they returned Stateside and remain in Nashville at this time.”
The Nollners had quit their jobs and sold their home and a car to move to India. The lawsuit states Ron Nollner “gave up his active construction career.”
The former councilman, who served from 1995 to 2003, owned a swimming pool construction business from 1978 to 1991 and started a charter coach business in Madison in 1996.
The Nollners’ lawsuit alleges retaliatory discharge, breach of contract and detrimental reliance. It seeks relief including at least $500,000 in compensatory damages and at least $1 million in punitive damages.
“They have suffered, without limitation, loss of wages and benefits, pain and suffering, mental anguish, embarrassment, humiliation and inconvenience,” the lawsuit states.
Unclear if he can sue Southern Baptists
The question before the Supreme Court is whether that exception should apply to other employees with less religious roles. The case, Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, involves a teacher at a religious elementary school in Michigan.