The Supreme Court of Wisconsin will review a decision in which a lower court ruled that the Catholic Charities Bureau of the Superior diocese does not qualify for an exemption from the state’s unemployment-insurance program, because the agency is not engaged in distinctively religious work.
The state’s Labor and Industry Review Commission has argued that Catholic Charities serves people of all faiths, and does not run religious programs. Bishop James Powers of Superior counters that the agency, “our diocese’s social ministry arm, carries on the work of Christ by reflecting gospel values; everything they do advances the mission of the Church.”