Sherry Detwiler v. Mid-Columbia Medical Center, et al.

A sharply divided Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of Petitioner’s Title VII and related religious failure-to-accommodate claims. The Ninth Circuit majority announced a new test, under which asserted religious conflicts with work requirements will be dissected at the pleading stage to determine whether each aspect of the employee’s request states a “truly religious principle.” The Ninth Circuit held that, when a religious objector asserts reliance on prayer, Scripture, and scientific understanding, the secular negates the spiritual portion of the request, and the claim must be dismissed. In so holding, the Ninth Circuit joined the Third Circuit but is opposed by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Circuits, which have considered nearly identical claims. Judge VanDyke vigorously dissented to the panel’s decision, and seven additional Ninth Circuit judges dissented to the denial of rehearing en banc. The question presented by this Circuit split has three components as follows: At the pleading stage, is the minority view espoused by the Ninth and Third Circuits, dismissing religious accommodation claims which contain overlapping spiritual and secular rationales, consistent with: A. The statutory text of Title VII; B. Title VII and Free Exercise precedents; and C. This Court’s application of the pleading requirements of FRCP 12(b)(6)?