Does the Family Leave Act Apply to Churches?

Here's some big legal news:

In a resounding win for a Lehigh Valley church, a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former church employee, declaring that the American principle of religious freedom prohibits courts from handling cases with religious aspects.

U.S. District Judge Gene Pratter of Philadelphia this week issued the first federal court decision in the nation on whether the constitutional separation of church and state applies to the Family and Medical Leave Act.

In essence, Pratter concluded that the judicial branch of government would be illegally meddling in church affairs if the case went any further.

Pratter dismissed the case filed by Aletha Fassl, the former music director of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Church in Bethlehem Township. She claimed that she was forced to leave her job after the church declined to give her a leave of absence for an illness.

In her suit, she alleged that the church violated the Family and Medical Leave Act. Pratter ruled, however, that the church does not have to follow the law because of the First Amendment's guarantee of religious freedom.

We wonder what could be next? The Family Leave Act doesn't apply to states and counties because that would violate federalism? Or it doesn't apply to businesses that aren't involved in interstate commerce because the Congress shouldn't have the unlimited power? We could only hope.