A Whistleblower “Minister” Loses in the Illinois Supreme Court

LESLIE C. GRIFFIN

UNLV Boyd School of Law professor Leslie C. Griffin comments on a recent decision by the Illinois Supreme Court characterizing a “lay principal” at a Catholic school as a “minister” and therefore dismissing her claim under the Illinois Whistleblower Act under the so-called “ministerial exception.” Professor Griffin argues that the ministerial exception gives churches pure religious freedom to dismiss all legal claims against them, rendering them entirely unaccountable for their unlawful actions.

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Woo v. Spackman

Docket: 20-1527

Opinion Date: February 12, 2021

Judge: Selya

Areas of Law: Business Law, Civil Procedure

In this appeal concerning the scope and reach of 28 U.S.C. 1963 - a statute permitting the registration of certain judgment in a federal district court - the First Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment concluding that the New York state court judgment proffered by Plaintiff did not come within the statutory sweep and that no other cognizable basis for federal subject-matter jurisdiction had been shown, holding that the district court did not err. Plaintiff sought recognition of a Korean judgment in New York. A New York court recognized the Korean judgment and entered a judgment in Plaintiff's favor for more than $13 million. When the New York judgment went unpaid, Plaintiff filed the judgment in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Defendants moved to quash, arguing that the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction because 28 U.S.C. 1963 only authorized district courts to register judgments of other federal courts and not state court judgments. The district court agreed and dismissed the matter for want of subject-matter jurisdiction. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) section 1963 does not authorize federal courts to register state-court judgments; and (2) there were no independent grounds for federal jurisdiction here.

Primarque Products Co. v. Williams West & Witt's Products Co.

Docket: 19-1463

Opinion Date: February 12, 2021

Judge: David J. Barron

Areas of Law: Business Law, Consumer Law

In this appeal and cross-appeal stemming from litigation that followed the termination of an almost forty-year business relationship between a company that manufactured and supplied soup base products (Manufacturer) and a company that distributed them (Distributor), the First Circuit reversed in part and vacated in part Distributor's appeal and affirmed in Manufacturer's cross appeal, holding that the district court erred in part. Following a trial, the jury awarded Distributor $255,000 in damages for its state law breach of contract and tortious interference with business relationships claims against Manufacturer. The district court granted summary judgment to Manufacturer on Distributor's claim against it under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93A and to Manufacturer on its counterclaim for breach of contract, for which the court awarded Manufacturer $97,843 in damages. The First Circuit held that the district court (1) erred in granting summary judgment on the Chapter 93A claim; (2) erred in striking as duplicative the jury's damages award on Distributor's breach of contract claim; (3) erred in denying Distributor prejudgment interest on the damages award it received on the tortious interference with business relations claim; and (4) erred in denying Distributor's offset request.

O'Rourke v. Tiffany & Co.

Docket: 20-1404

Opinion Date: February 11, 2021

Judge: William Joseph Kayatta, Jr.

Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Labor & Employment Law

The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Employer and dismissing Employee's claims for retaliation in violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), 29 U.S.C. 2612, and disability discrimination in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. 12101-12213, and the Rhode Island Fair Employment Practices Act, R.I. Gen. Laws 28-5-7, holding that the district court did not err. Employee took leave from Employer under the FMLA to undergo preventive surgery and then took a second leave for a related surgery that same year. The following year, Employer eliminated Employee's position. As an alternative to termination, Employer offered Employee a newly created, lower level position with a lower salary. Employee declined the position, and Employer terminated her employment. Plaintiff then brought this action. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Employer. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that summary judgment was properly granted.