Hilliard-based LifeWise Academy is arguing in court that the Ohio Civil Rights Commission can't investigate an employment discrimination claim against them, because religious organizations have the constitutional right to make decisions about who teaches faith and doctrine.
LifeWise Academy offers off-campus Bible study to public school students during school hours, usually in place of recess or elective classes.
The case before the Ohio Supreme Court stems from a complaint filed by a former LifeWise employee. Rachel Snell, 48, first volunteered for LifeWise in Eaton in 2023, then became a part-time teacher at LifeWise’s Tri-County North program in Preble County in June 2024.
Snell said LifeWise asked her to record working only two hours regardless of how much time she actually put in preparing for lessons and teaching students. When she refused to falsify her timesheets, LifeWise accused her of making “unholy” social media posts and “politically representing LifeWise,” she said.
Snell said she doesn’t know what posts or letters LifeWise is referencing and hasn’t seen any evidence of the claims.
“They have demonstrated repeatedly over and over that they are fine with dishonesty, which if you're a believer, you know that there is absolutely no room for that,” Snell said. “Jesus calls himself the truth.”
Snell filed a complaint with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission in January. In May, mediation ended in impasse, and the charge with OCRC remains pending.
RELATED: Ohio House budget changes rules for LifeWise and other religious groups that take kids out of school
In the June legal filing before the Ohio Supreme Court, LifeWise calls Snell’s allegations “baseless.”
“But her charge faces a greater obstacle: no state civil tribunal has jurisdiction over the ministerial employment decisions that a religious body like LifeWise makes in connection with ministers like Snell,” the legal document reads.
The document goes on to assert that the Ohio Constitution gives LifeWise “the clear legal right to finality when it applies its own ecclesiastical standards, without interference by a secular government.”
It also claims that Snell was “engaged in continuous, unrepentant behavior that constituted misconduct under LifeWise’s employee handbook.” It says Snell was “insubordinate” because she worked more hours than she was authorized and tried to expand the scope of her work, and that she was given the opportunity to “redeem” herself.
Snell believes the legal document is riddled with inaccuracies, but said she’s not surprised LifeWise filed it.
RELATED: LifeWise Academy brings in record revenue during year of rapid growth for Christian nonprofit
Snell said that during the mediation for her initial complaint, LifeWise executives offered her money to drop the issue. Snell said she didn’t want money, but she wanted LifeWise to change its financial policies.
“They made it very clear that they were not going to stand for truth and they were going to stay in for righteousness and that what they have made their primary purpose is money,” Snell said.
Snell wants the program to do Federal Bureau of Investigation and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation background checks on its teachers and volunteers.
“There's thousands of volunteers and teachers and directors that are wonderful kind-hearted people, but they should still be FBI/BCI background checked, because if not, there's going to be someone that's going fall through the cracks,” Snell said.
Shell also wants LifeWise to charge communities less for its curriculum. She called LifeWise’s fees “excessive.”
LifeWise says it’s committed to its mission and it relies on having the right people in place to successfully carry it out. In the legal filing, LifeWise lists its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“The legal action was filed against the State to prevent governmental overreach and encroachment on religious matters,” reads a statement from LifeWise.
Snell said she still supports release time religious instruction. She let her son continue to attend his LifeWise program last year, but plans not to enroll him this year.
"The executives at the top that are just really demonstrating this greed and this dishonesty when there's so many good people that are involved in this," Snell said. "So yes, I support release time religious instruction. I do think that communities need to choose a different provider."
