Rankins v. Commission on Professional Competence of the Ducor Union School District

Opinion

NEWMAN, J.

— We inquire in this case whether as a condition of employment a school district may require a teacher to forego adherence to bona fide religious tenets that require several absences a year for observance of a church’s holy days. We have concluded that under the circumstances presented such a condition of employment violates article I, section 8, of the California Constitution, which provides: “A person may not be disqualified from entering or pursuing a business, profession, vocation, or employment because of sex, race, creed, color, or national or ethnic origin.” (Italics…