Judge David Ebel
Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
David Milton Ebel was born in June 1940 in Wichita, Kansas. He earned an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School. He clerked for Justice Byron White of the U.S. Supreme Court, before entering private practice in Denver, Colorado.
Ebel was an adjunct professor of law at the University of Denver Law School and a senior teaching fellow at Duke University Law School.
He was nominated by President Ronald Ragan to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He was confirmed by the Senate and received his commission in April 1988. He assumed senior status in January 2006.
In the News…
The Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals based in Denver has rejected a church’s argument that religious institutions are entitled to immunity from being sued for certain instances of employment-related retaliation.
In the first-of-its-kind ruling from an appeals court, a panel of judges decided 2-1 that it had no ability to decide the appeal of a church involving the “ministerial exception” to anti-discrimination laws. The effect of the decision is to allow the lawsuit of a former employee to proceed against his former employer, the church, and its religious school.
“Moreover, the reason that the Supreme Court permits immediate appeals from the denial of qualified immunity is to protect, not individual government officials, but rather the public’s interest in a functioning government,” Judge Ebel wrote. “That public interest is not present when a private religious employer seeks to avoid liability under Title VII from employment discrimination claims.”
He added that, the ministerial exception notwithstanding, religious employers are not broadly immune from civil rights laws, and to hold otherwise “would place a religious employer above the law.”
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Ebel today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable David Ebel
Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Byron White United States Courthouse
1823 Stout Street
Denver, CO 80257
