Tuesday, August 3, 2021 The ministerial exception stems from the First Amendment of the Constitution’s Religion Clauses and provides religious organizations a broad exemption from employment discrimination laws that would otherwise apply to the hiring and firing of ministerial employees. The Seventh Circuit, sitting en banc, recently held on July 9, 2021, in Demkovich v. St. Andrew the Apostle Parish and the Archdiocese of Chicago, that the ministerial exception also bars hostile work environment claims. The Demkovich decision was preceded by two significant Supreme Court cases repeatedly cited in the Seventh Circuit’s opinion as providing clarity and guidance about the scope of the ministerial exception. In the 2012 Supreme Court case