In Iwuchukwu v. Archdiocese for the Military Services,(D DC, Feb. 11, 2022), the D.C. federal district court dismissed a suit by a former Catholic priest who worked at Georgetown University Hospital and the Department of Veterans Affairs. After a woman accused the priest of sexually abusing her, the Archdiocese revoked his faculties and endorsement so he could not work as a Catholic pastor. Legal authorities did not pursue charges against the priest because the statute of limitations had run; the priest submitted polygraph results supporting his denial of wrongdoing. However the Archdiocese refused to reinstate him. He sued claiming violation of the 14th Amendment's due process clause and illegal retaliation against him for filing an employment discrimination claim. The court held that the suit should be dismissed under the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine because this:
plainly concerns the composition of the clergy and a matter of church discipline.... Moreover, the conferral of faculties and an endorsement on a priest is a purely religious decision that cannot be reviewed by courts.
The court concluded that his claim for retaliation in violation of the D.C. employment discrimination law should be dismissed because of the statutory exemption for religious organizations.
