Professional Documents
Culture Documents
United States Court of Appeals For The Ninth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals For The Ninth Circuit
12523
SPENCER v. WORLD VISION 12527
COUNSEL
OPINION
Spencer and Hulse had both worked for World Vision for
approximately ten years prior to their dismissal. Spencer pro-
vided various services related to the upkeep and maintenance
of the organization’s technology and facilities, and Hulse was
responsible for miscellaneous office tasks, such as scheduling
and telephone coverage. Youngberg worked for World Vision
for almost two years; his duties included coordinating ship-
ping and facilities needs as well as scheduling.
II
[3] Ours has not been the only circuit to consider scope of
the section 2000e-1 exemption. In LeBoon, the Third Circuit
concluded that a Jewish community center was a religious
organization within the meaning of section 2000e-1. In doing
so, it agreed with Townley that the proper inquiry involved a
weighing of “ ‘[a]ll significant religious and secular character-
istics.’ ” LeBoon, 503 F.3d at 226 (alteration in original)
(quoting Townley, 859 F.2d at 618). The court then consid-
ered nine factors other “courts have looked at” in determining
whether an entity qualified for section 2000e-1:
Id. (citing Kamehameha, 990 F.2d 458 and Townley, 859 F.2d
at 618-19). The Third Circuit added the caveat that “not all
factors will be relevant in all cases, and the weight given each
factor may vary from case to case.” Id. at 227. The court also
noted that the section 2000e-1 exemption should not be
denied to institutions because they, inter alia, engage in some
secular activities, do not adhere to the strictest tenets of their
faith, or do not hire only coreligionists. Id. at 229-30.
III
[7] The test I propose also ensures that the section 2000e-
1 exemption will remain “narrow[ ].” Kamehameha, 990 F.2d
at 460. Requiring that an organization hold itself out as reli-
gious “helps to ensure that only bona fide religious institu-
tions are exempted.” Great Falls, 278 F.3d at 1344. “[S]uch
public representations serve as a market check. While public
religious identification will no doubt attract some [people] to
the institution, it will dissuade others. In other words, it comes
14
Justice Brennan would have gone so far as to impose a “categorical
exemption for nonprofit activities.” Amos, 483 U.S. at 345 (Brennan, J.,
concurring).
SPENCER v. WORLD VISION 12547
at a cost. Such market responses will act as a check on institu-
tions that falsely identify themselves as religious merely to
obtain [the benefit of the section 2000e-1] exemption . . . .”
Id.
The last caveat reflects the fact that World Vision does not
proselytize. Its services are made available to people of all
faiths or of no faith. Indeed, World Vision claims that to do
otherwise “would be contrary to its theology.” Instead, the
organization explains that it attempts to express its “Christian
witness . . . in holistic ways through . . . ministries of relief,
development, advocacy and public awareness.” Humanitarian
services are thus provided without strings attached, though
World Vision operates numerous religious programs for those
who express interest.
LeBoon, 503 F.3d at 230. I agree with the D.C. Circuit that
to confine an exemption “to religious institutions with hard-
nosed proselytizing, that limit their enrollment to members of
their religion . . . is an unnecessarily stunted view of the law.”
Great Falls, 278 F.3d at 1346 (citing Larson, 456 U.S. at 244)).19
19
Not to mention that this would again raise considerations of discrimi-
nation among religious institutions: here, between groups that engage in
“hard nosed proselytizing” and those that do not. See supra Part II.A.2.b.
SPENCER v. WORLD VISION 12553
[15] Moreover, the Employees’ argument would lead to
absurd results. Hosts of religious organizations—including
such obviously religious entities as churches or synagogues—
open their doors to all. They provide religious instruction,
counseling, prayer, and a variety of other services without
concern for whether the individual requesting such services is
a coreligionist. Adopting the Employees’ standard compels
the conclusion that this inclusivity cuts against an entity’s
ability to qualify for the section 2000e-1 exemption. Thus, the
fact that World Vision provides its services without condition
does not suggest it is ineligible for the exemption.
[16] I next ask whether World Vision holds itself out to the
public as a religious organization. Even the Employees con-
cede this point. They could do little else. World Vision makes
no effort to disguise its Christian nature.
Who we are:
IV
AFFIRMED.
24
It is true, as Plaintiffs note, that the fact that the employees in Townley
were required to attend devotional services did not preclude this court
from finding the entity secular in nature. 859 F.2d at 619. The inquiry,
however, is multifaceted. While the company in Townley conducted devo-
tional services, it was also a for-profit manufacturer of an “admittedly sec-
ular product”: mining equipment. Id.
SPENCER v. WORLD VISION 12559
KLEINFELD, Circuit Judge, concurring:
The Civil Rights Act and the exemption are not mere
words. They are designed to accomplish something, they have
purposes, and the words cannot be understood without consid-
ering the purposes. Purposes are not the same thing as legisla-
tive history, often merely a depositary for lobbyists’ requests
that did not make it into the statute.2 The Civil Rights Act of
1964 is intended to free us from the curse of discrimination
in hiring by “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”3
But without an exemption for religious institutions, that Act
would have the unintended consequence of preventing the
free exercise of religion.4 If the government coerced staffing
of religious institutions by persons who rejected or even were
hostile to the religions the institutions were intended to
advance, then the shield against discrimination would destroy
the freedom of Americans to practice their religions. Judge
O’Scannlain’s test would facilitate free exercise of religion,
but would also allow people to advance discriminatory objec-
tives outside the context of religious exercise by means of
mere corporate paperwork. Judge Berzon’s would limit reli-
gious exercise to worship, study, and dissemination, and deny
people the freedom to employ only people who share their
religion for their other religious activities. If an interpretation
2
See Puerta v. United States, 121 F.3d 1338, 1344 (9th Cir. 1997).
3
42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a).
4
See Corp. of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Lat-
ter Day Saints v. Amos, 483 U.S. 327, 335-36 (1987); Little v. Wuerl, 929
F.2d 944, 949 (3d Cir. 1991); cf. EEOC v. Pacific Press Publ’g Ass’n, 676
F.2d 1272, 1276 (9th Cir. 1982) (discussing potential Free Exercise prob-
lems arising from the application of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to
religious organizations, but noting that Congress only exempted religious
organizations from the ban on religious discrimination, not other forms of
discrimination), abrogation on other grounds recognized by American
Friends Serv. Comm. Corp. v. Thornburgh, 951 F.2d 957, 960 (9th Cir.
1991).
SPENCER v. WORLD VISION 12561
disserves the evident purposes of the Civil Rights Act and the
religious institution exemption, then it is probably mistaken.
I.
II.
III.
The majority correctly observes that “our case law does not
compel us to march down a checklist of considerations” in
assessing whether an organization is “primarily religious,” nor
does it compel “rigid adherence” to the factors considered by
Townley or Kamehameha Schools. Maj. Op. at 12536. The
relevant characteristics will depend on the type of institution
invoking the exemption.3 The variable nature of the inquiry,
2
The majority characterizes this inquiry as assessing the “quantum” of
“admittedly religious activity at the school.” Maj. Op. 12543 n.11. The
observation that the Schools’ religious studies program was “largely com-
parative” and involved no instruction in Protestant doctrine, however,
entails an assessment of the nature—the quality—of the allegedly reli-
gious activity, not merely its quantity.
3
The district court’s reliance on LeBoon v. Lancaster Jewish Community
Center Association, 503 F.3d 217 (3d Cir. 2007), was error not because
LeBoon used slightly different factors to assess whether the organization
was primarily religious but because the Third Circuit’s refusal to read the
statutory exemption as narrowly focused on churches and entities similar
to churches, see id. at 231, directly conflicts with our precedents, as I
explain infra in Part III.
12578 SPENCER v. WORLD VISION
however, does not relieve us of our obligation to assess “[a]ll
significant religious and secular characteristics.” Kameha-
meha Sch., 990 F.2d at 460. As it is clear that Kamehameha
Schools, which relied upon Townley, cannot be distinguished
on the grounds that the characterization of particular attributes
as secular or religious was undisputed, we are compelled to
follow the mode of analysis prescribed in our two preceden-
tial cases. See, e.g., United States v. Hernandez-Castro, 473
F.3d 1004, 1008 (9th Cir. 2007).
IV.
1.
2.
V.
1.
2.
3.
CONCLUSION
I would hew to the line Congress drew and this court has
heretofore respected; my colleagues would not. I respectfully
dissent.