McRaney v. The North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, Inc.

Filing 50

ORDER granting 37 Motion to Quash. Signed by Magistrate Judge David A. Sanders on 11/7/18. (jcm)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
ABERDEEN DIVISION
WILL McRANEY

PLAINTIFF

v.

No. 1:17cv080-GHD-DAS

THE NORTH AMERICAN MISSION BOARD
OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION, INC.

DEFENDANT

ORDER

BEFORE

THE

COURT

is

third-party

respondent

Baptist

Convention

of

Maryland/Delaware, Inc.’s (“BCMD”) [37] Motion to Quash Subpoena Duces Tecum. BCMD
asserts two grounds for quashing the subpoena: (1) the “ministerial exception” doctrine and (2) a
separation agreement and release McRaney and BCMD entered into at the end of his employment.
The Court finds the first ground to be meritorious and declines to address the second.1
The “ministerial exception” is a First Amendment doctrine that precludes court interference
into “the employment relationship between a religious institution and its ‘ministers.’” HosannaTabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and Sch. V. E.E.O.C., 565 U.S. 171, 188 (2012). The purpose
behind the exception is to prevent the state, through the enforcement of employment laws and
regulations, from “depriving the church of control over the selection of those who will personify
its beliefs.” Id. In a previous opinion, this Court determined that “McRaney is indeed the type of
ministerial employee to whom the exception potentially applies.”2 However, the Court did not

1

BCMD and Defendant both argue the case should be dismissed based on the separation agreement and
release. This argument is inappropriate for a motion to quash and is best addressed in a separate motion to
dismiss. The Court notes Defendant has filed such a motion. See [48] North American Mission Board Motion
for Partial Summary Judgment.
2

See [19] Memorandum Opinion Granting in Part and Denying in Part Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss at *5.

dismiss the claims based on the exception because McRaney was not employed by Defendant and
the claim did not arise out of Defendant’s employment decisions.
After the Court denied Defendant’s motion to dismiss, in part, Defendant issued the subject
subpoena to BCMD requesting, inter alia, McRaney’s complete personnel file. The subject
subpoena seeks information directly related to employment decisions made by McRaney’s former
employer, BCMD, which has moved that it be quashed. The Court therefore finds that the
ministerial exception applies and the subpoena is hereby QUASHED.3
SO ORDERED this the 7th day of November, 2018.
/s/ David A. Sanders
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

The subpoena also runs afoul of the “ecclesiastical abstention” doctrine. Submitting the personnel file would
subject BCMD to review of “internal policies, internal procedures, or internal decisions of the church,” which
the doctrine forbids. Ginyard v. Church of God in Christ Kentucky First Jurisdiction, Inc., 6 F. Supp. 3d 725,
729 (W.D. Ky. 2014).
3

2