Rehfield v. Diocese of Joliet

Summary

The court affirmed dismissal of the plaintiff's two claims against the Diocese. It held that the common-law retaliatory-discharge claim failed because the plaintiff was employed under a fixed-term contract and was paid through the contract's expiration, while the Whistleblower Act claim was not barred merely because the reported criminal conduct involved a third party. The court nevertheless held that the ministerial exception barred the whistleblower claim because the plaintiff's duties as a Catholic-school principal made her a minister whose termination could not be judicially reviewed.