New Mexico Court Refuses Jurisdiction Over Rabbi's Suit

In Celnik v. Congregation B'nai Israel, a New Mexico Court of Appeals in an opinion originally released Feb. 6 and issued in corrected form April 4, 2006, applied the church autonomy doctrine to dismiss a suit by a long-tenured rabbi against his synagogue after his employment was terminated. Describing the case as raising an issue of first impression in New Mexico, the court held that the church autonomy doctrine protects religious institutions from governmental interference. Rabbi Celnik claimed that defendants had disseminated one-sided information about him to sway the congregation to compel him to resign. He claimed his dismissal was actually motivated by his Parkinson's disease, his age, his wife's medical condition and his complaints about the congregation's failure to compensate him in accordance with his contract.