Alexander Behrend v. San Francisco Zen Center, Inc.

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

ALEXANDER BEHREND, No. 23-15399

Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 3:21-cv- 01905-JSC v.

SAN FRANCISCO ZEN CENTER, OPINION

INC.,

Defendant-Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California Jacqueline S. Corley, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted April 3, 2024 Pasadena, California

Filed July 17, 2024

Before: Ryan D. Nelson, Lawrence VanDyke, and Gabriel P. Sanchez, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge VanDyke BEHREND V. SAN FRANCISCO ZEN CENTER, INC.

SUMMARY *

Employment Discrimination / Ministerial Exception

Affirming the district court’s grant of summary judgment to San Francisco Zen Center in an employment discrimination action under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the panel held that plaintiff Alexander Behrend’s role as a “Work Practice Apprentice” fell within the First Amendment’s ministerial exception. The ministerial exception exempts a church’s employment relationship with its ministers from the application of employment statutes such as the Americans with Disabilities Act. The…