Employment Security Administration v. Baltimore Lutheran High School Ass'n

436 A.2d 481, 291 Md. 750, 1981 Md. LEXIS 297
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedNovember 6, 1981
DocketNo. 80
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 436 A.2d 481 (Employment Security Administration v. Baltimore Lutheran High School Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Employment Security Administration v. Baltimore Lutheran High School Ass'n, 436 A.2d 481, 291 Md. 750, 1981 Md. LEXIS 297 (Md. 1981).

Opinion

Davidson, J.,

delivered the opinion of the Court.

A Jewish synagogue, Beth Tfiloh, operates a day school (Jewish day school) which is not separately incorporated. Another Jewish synagogue, Liberty Jewish Center (Jewish Sunday school), operates a Sunday school which is not separately incorporated. Various Roman Catholic churches within the Archdiocese of Washington (Archdiocese) operate 52 parochial schools (Catholic [752]*752parochial schools) which are not separately incorporated. Various Roman Catholic religious orders within the Archdiocese, each of which is separately incorporated, operate 12 private schools (Catholic private schools). There is no evidence to show whether any of these Catholic private schools are separately incorporated. The Baltimore Lutheran High School Association, Inc. (Lutheran Association) is composed of Lutheran churches, each of which is a member of the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod. The Lutheran Association is separately incorporated and operates the Baltimore Lutheran High School (Lutheran High).

This case presents the question whether each of these schools is entitled to an exemption for its school employees from taxes imposed by the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA), 26 U.S.C. §§ 3301-3311 (1976 & Supp. Ill 1979), and by Maryland’s complementary statute, Md. Code (1957, 1979 Repl.Vol. & 1981 Cum.Supp.), Art. 95A, §§ 1-23, the Unemployment Insurance Law. The provisions primarily at issue are FUTA’s § 3309 (b) and Maryland’s Art. 95A, § 20 (g) (7) (v) (B).

Title 26 U.S.C. § 3309 (b), effective 10 August 1970, provides in pertinent part:

"This section shall not apply to services performed —
"(1) in the employ of (A) a church or convention or association of churches, or (B) an organization which is operated primarily for religious purposes and which is operated, supervised, controlled, or principally supported by a church or convention or association of churches;
"(2) by a duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister of a church in the exercise of his ministry or by a member of a religious order in the exercise of duties required by such order....”

Maryland Code, Art. 95A, § 20 (g) (7) (v) (B), effective 1 July 1978, provides:

[753]*753" 'Employment’ does not include:

"B. Service by an individual in the employ of a church or convention or association of churches, or an organization which is operated primarily for religious purposes and which is operated, supervised, controlled, or principally supported by a church or convention or association of churches.”

Each of the schools claims an exemption on both statutory and First Amendment grounds.1

The Employment Security Administration’s Board of Appeals (Board) in Appeal No. 243524 held that the Jewish day and Sunday schools were operated primarily for religious purposes and, therefore, were entitled to an exemption. In Decision No. 55-EA-79, the Board held that the Catholic parochial schools and the Catholic private schools were also operated primarily for religious purposes and were entitled to an exemption. In Decision No. 39-EA-79, the Board held that Lutheran High was not operated primarily for religious purposes and was not entitled to an exemption.

In the Superior Court of Baltimore City, the decisions of the Board were affirmed. In addition, the trial court determined that, in light of its conclusion that the Jewish day and Sunday schools, the Catholic parochial schools, and the Catholic private schools were entitled to an exemption, it need not consider the constitutional issues raised with respect to those schools. However, it held that the imposition of a tax on Lutheran High did not violate the First Amendment.

Both the Employment Security Administration and the Lutheran Association filed appeals to the Court of Special Appeals from the trial court’s judgment. While that appeal was pending, the Employment Security Administration filed [754]*754a petition for a writ of certiorari. We issued a writ of certiorari to the Court of Special Appeals before consideration by that Court. We shall affirm that portion of the trial court’s judgment affirming the Board’s decision in Appeal No. 243524 and Decision No. 55-EA-79 that the Jewish day and Sunday schools and the Catholic parochial schools are entitled to an exemption. We shall vacate that portion of the trial court’s judgment affirming the Board’s decision in Decision No. 39-EA-79 that Lutheran High is not entitled to an exemption. Finally, we shall vacate that portion, of the trial court’s judgment affirming the Board’s decision in Decision No. 55-EA-79 that the Catholic private schools are entitled to an exemption. We will remand the case to the Board without affirmance or reversal for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.2

On 26 May 1981, the United States Supreme Court decided St. Martin Evangelical Lutheran Church v. South Dakota, 451 U.S. 772, 101 S.Ct. 2142 (1981). There, members of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod operated two schools, St. Martin Evangelical Lutheran Church School (St. Martin) and Northwestern Lutheran Academy (Academy). These two institutions were described by the Court as follows:

"St. Martin operates a state-certified elementary Christian day school at Watertown that offers kindergarten through eighth-grade education. The school, which is not a separate legal entity from the church, is controlled by a Board of Education elected from the local congregation. The [755]*755congregation entirely finances the school’s operation. The Academy is a state-certified 4-year secondary school at Mobridge and is owned, supported, and controlled by the Synod. It, also, is not separately incorporated. Approximately half of its students go on to become ministers within the Church. According to the record, all courses given at St. Martin and at the Academy are taught from a religious point of view based on the Synod’s scriptural convictions.” St. Martin, 451 U.S. at 778-79, 101 S.Ct. at 2146.

The question presented was whether schools operated by a church or an association of churches that were not separately incorporated and, therefore, had no separate legal existence from the church or association of churches were entitled to an exemption for their school employees from taxes imposed by FUTA’s § 3309 (b) and South Dakota’s complementary statute.3 There, as here, the exemption was claimed on both statutory and First Amendment grounds.

In reaching its decision, the Supreme Court reviewed the legislative history and language of § 3309 (b) (1). It concluded that

"at the time of its enactment in 1970, § 3309 (b) (1) (A) was meant to apply to schools, like petitioners’, that have no separate legal existence from a church, or, as in the Academy’s case, from a 'convention or association of churches.’ ” St. Martin, 451 U.S. at 784, 101 S.Ct. at 2149 (emphasis added).

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Bluebook (online)
436 A.2d 481, 291 Md. 750, 1981 Md. LEXIS 297, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/employment-security-administration-v-baltimore-lutheran-high-school-assn-md-1981.