Judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit splintered Friday over the reach of the First Amendment’s “ministerial exception” in a ruling upholding the dismissal of an age bias case against Christian college Liberty University.
Judge Robert King, writing for the majority, said former Liberty University art professor Eva Palmer failed to offer enough evidence in her Age Discrimination in Employment Act lawsuit that the school’s stated reason for not renewing the then-79 year old’s contract—because she wasn’t qualified to teach digital arts courses—was a cover for age discrimination.
