A female pastor who filed a gender discrimination lawsuit after being passed over for the senior pastor role at a prominent New York church has had her case dismissed in federal court. Eboni Marshall Turman sued Abyssinian Baptist Church in 2023, claiming the pulpit search committee violated both state and city anti-discrimination laws when it selected a male pastor to succeed Calvin O. Butts III, who had announced his plan to retire as senior pastor. Although Marshall Turman advanced to the third round of the selection process along with 10 male applicants, she did not advance to the next round -- and claimed in her suit she was told her gender was the reason.

But U.S. District Judge Dale E. Ho dismissed the lawsuit in a March 31 decision, ruling that Supreme Court precedent prevents courts from being entangled in the hiring practices of houses of faith. Ho cited the “ministerial exception” doctrine, which shields religious institutions from employment discrimination claims.

The ministerial exception, he wrote, “bars Dr. Marshall Turman’s employment discrimination claims.”

“There is no way for this Court to resolve Dr. Marshall Turman’s employment discrimination claim without becoming entangled with Abyssinian’s ecclesiastical innerworkings,” the judge wrote. “It is therefore not premature to apply the ministerial exception at the motion to dismiss stage of this litigation.”

Marshall Turman alleged that the church violated its own bylaws -- and that Butts himself once told her that she would never be selected as senior pastor because she is a woman.

Judge Ho cited the Supreme Court’s 2012 decision in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, which formally recognized the ministerial exception.

“[T]he interest of society in the enforcement of employment discrimination statutes is undoubtedly important,” Ho wrote, quoting the Supreme Court. “But so too is the interest of religious groups in choosing who will preach their beliefs, teach their faith, and carry out their mission.”

Marshall Turman is a Yale Divinity School professor and a former assistant pastor at the church.

She told the Associated Press she is considering an appeal.

“The case was not dismissed on its merits but on a technicality — religious exception — which contends that the church has a right to discriminate, even though the Bible says, ‘in Christ there is neither male nor female,’” she said. “My moral claim still stands: gender discrimination against me or anyone else has no place in God’s house.”

Abyssinian Baptist celebrated the court’s decision.

“We are grateful for the court’s decision and for the closure it brings to this matter,” the pulpit search committee said in a statement. “Throughout the legal proceedings, Abyssinian has maintained that the pastoral search process was guided by our core values -- faith, fairness, integrity, and inclusivity. That process included a thorough and prayerful evaluation of more than 40 candidates from a wide range of backgrounds with varying experiences, ages, genders, and identities.

“... As we move forward, we remain anchored in our calling to be a beacon of faith, justice, and service in Harlem and beyond. We are proud of the enduring legacy of Abyssinian and are committed to continuing that legacy with clarity of purpose and unity of spirit.”

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