Court grants Catholic Charities unemployment tax exemption

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Monday that Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. and its Superior-based chapter is eligible for tax exemption from the state’s unemployment insurance program.

The order follows a June 5^th ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned the state high court’s ruling that previously denied the exemption. The U.S. Supreme Court said that in denying that exemption, Wisconsin discriminated against the organization and violated its First Amendment right to religious protection.

In reversing the state court’s ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court sent the case back to Wisconsin’s Supreme Court with directions to follow its findings. With the state’s ruling now in place, the Labor and Industry Review Commission will make Catholic Charities eligible again for the unemployment tax exemption.

Wisconsin, like most states and the federal government, grants exemptions from its unemployment insurance program for certain church-controlled organizations that are “operated primarily for religious purposes.”

Catholic Charities, the social ministry arm of the Catholic Diocese of Superior, said it met those criteria while the state argued the group’s work, even if motivated by religious belief, was primarily secular.

In its ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court said Wisconsin granted the exemption to some religious organizations and not others based “on theological differences” about whether to spread religious doctrine while performing charitable work.