Ave Maria Law School invokes ministerial exception in wrongful termination suit

[Michael R. Masinter]

I agree with Eugene that the first amendment limits a state's power to  
impose tort liability for engaging in protected speech, and that those  
limits extend to liability for tortious interference, but I have  
difficulty conceiving of how those limits could even plausibly apply  
to Safranek's claim for tortious interference.  I appreciate and  
concur in the quibble; I just can't make it fit the particulars of  
this case.

Mike

Michael R. Masinter                      3305 College Avenue
Professor of Law                         Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314
Nova Southeastern University             954.262.6151 (voice)
masinter at nova.edu                        954.262.3835 (fax)





Quoting "Volokh, Eugene" <VOLOKH at law.ucla.edu>:

>         I largely agree with Michael's point, but want to offer a   
> small quibble:  I would think that the right of expressive   
> association, and for that matter of free speech, might sometimes   
> preempt the tort of interference with a contractual relationship --   
> for instance, if a group pickets to urge some organization to take   
> some action even if the action involves breaching the organization's  
>  contracts.  See, e.g., Jefferson County Sch. Dist. No. R-1 v.   
> Moody's Investor's Servs., Inc., 175 F.3d 848, 857-58 (10th Cir.   
> 1999) (citing Hustler v. Falwell to reject a "reading of state   
> [interference with contract] tort law ... [under which] the   
> protection afforded to an expression of opinion under the First   
> Amendment might well depend on a trier of fact's determination of   
> whether the individual who had published the article was motivated   
> by a legitimate desire to express his or her view or by a desire to   
> interfere with a contract").
>
>         Eugene
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: religionlaw-bounces at lists.ucla.edu [mailto:religionlaw-
>> bounces at lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Michael R. Masinter
>> Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 5:49 AM
>> To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics; Rick Duncan
>> Subject: Re: Ave Maria Law School invokes ministerial exception in wrongful
>> termination suit
>>
>> Why would the assumed right of expressive association preclude
>> liability for breach of contract, for fraud, or for tortious
>> interference with a contractual relationship?  To be sure Ave Maria
>> might regret having chosen to grant tenure to its faculty, but having
>> done so, why would a right of expressive association permit it to
>> ignore the contractual and tort duties arising from the contract it
>> freely entered?  Without conceding the right as applied to the school,
>> why would its presumed existence affect any of the claims against
>> either the school or the individual defendants?
>>
>>
>> Michael R. Masinter                      3305 College Avenue
>> Professor of Law                         Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314
>> Nova Southeastern University             954.262.6151 (voice)
>> masinter at nova.edu                        954.262.3835 (fax)
>>
>>
>> Quoting Rick Duncan <nebraskalawprof at yahoo.com>:
>>
>> > Even if the ministerial exception doesn't apply, why wouldn't the
>> > right of expressive association apply to a school's right to exclude
>> >  teachers who are part of its expressive mission? Surely, Ave Maria
>> > is at least as much of an expressive association as are the BSA. No?
>> >
>> > Rick Duncan
>> > Welpton Professor of Law
>> > University of Nebraska College of Law
>> > Lincoln, NE 68583-0902
>> >
>>
>>
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