State Supreme Court to Hear Unemployment Exemption for Catholic Charities

Tuesday, May 23rd, 2023 -- 2:00 PM

(Raymond Neupert, WRN) The State Supreme Court is set to decide if one of Wisconsin's largest service organizations is exempt from paying unemployment tax.

Catholic Charities Bureau is challenging an appellate court ruling that it must pay into Wisconins's unemployment system rather than a separate program run by Catholic dioceses. The court agreed with a ruling from the Labor and Industry Review Commission that Catholic Charities provides mainly secular services and isn't a ministerial group despite being a branch of the church.

Catholic Charites says the ruling violates long-standing religious exemptions for the Church. 

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