U.S. Supreme Court shields religious schools from employment lawsuits

WASHINGTON, July 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court, siding with Catholic schools in a legal dispute with teachers who said they were unlawfully dismissed, ruled on Wednesday that religious institutions like churches and schools are shielded from employment discrimination lawsuits.

The 7-2 decision embraced a broad interpretation of the "ministerial exception," a legal doctrine recognized by the Supreme Court in a 2012 case that bars ministers or people in similar roles from suing religious institutions for workplace bias. The court blocked two teachers from pursuing lawsuits accusing the two Catholic elementary schools in California of discrimination based upon age and disability. (Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York and Jan Wolfe in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham)