N.L.R.B. v. International Broth. of Teamsters

In this case the United States uses Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., to advance what would more commonly be a free exercise clause challenge (1) to refusal of the defendant Board of Education for the School District of Philadelphia ("Board") to allow a public school teacher to wear religious attire in the course of her duties, and (2) to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvanias "Garb Statute," 24 Pa. Cons. St. Ann. § 11-1112, which compelled the Boards action. We conclude that the United States Supreme Courts summary disposition of an appeal from a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court in a case presenting such a free exercise challenge, Cooper v. Eugene School District No. 4J, 301 Or. 358, 723 P.2d 298 (1986), appeal dismissed, 480 U.S. 942, 107 S. Ct. 1597, 94 L. Ed. 2d 784 (1987), ultimately compels us to reject the Title VII claim currently before us, although moving from Coopers free exercise holding to the Title VII claim requires some analysis.