Fundamentalists Supported in Bias Case

WASHINGTON — Three religious groups are supporting a coalition of fundamentalist Christian schools that refused to rehire a pregnant teacher because its leaders believe that a mother’s place is at home with her child.

The groups, in separate statements this week, said they have asked the Supreme Court to rule in favor of a fundamentalist coalition of schools in Dayton, Ohio, that refused to rehire Linda Hoskinson.

The three groups filing friend-of the-court briefs on behalf of Dayton Christian Schools Inc. were the American Jewish Congress, the U.S. Catholic Conference and Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Beliefs Versus Laws

At issue is a clash between religious beliefs and anti-discrimination laws.

In 1979, Hoskinson, a teacher at the Dayton Christian Schools, complained to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission because the school’s principal refused to rehire her the year after the birth of her child.

She was told that the school’s religious tenets state that mothers should stay home and take care of their young children.

When Hoskinson sought the advice of an attorney, she was fired for violating the biblical “chain of command” by seeking the advice of a secular authority.

The rights commission concluded that there was probable cause to believe that the schools had violated anti-discrimination laws. That conclusion was upheld by a federal district court but was overturned at the appellate level.

In its brief, the American Jewish Congress said that if the appellate court’s ruling is upheld and Hoskinson is rehired, the school will be required to “hold her up as a model of a proper example of Christian living when she is openly violating the school’s tenets.”

Violation Claimed

The Catholic Conference agreed, saying the commission’s finding of discrimination violates the First Amendment’s clause regarding free exercise of religion.

In its brief, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which often is at odds with the Catholic Conference on church-state matters, pointed to the court’s past argument that the government must “avoid excessive entanglement with religion.”

“We are firmly opposed to discrimination,” said Robert L. Maddox, executive director of Americans United, “but this principle must not override the right of churches or church schools to hire the pastors or teachers they believe can best teach their faith.”