( February 12, 2025, 8:03 AM EST) -- PASADENA, Calif. — A ruling by a split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel finding employment-related claims barred by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution’s ministerial exception was “a matter of first impression” and “expanded the . . . Ministerial Exception beyond anything envisioned or permitted by the Supreme Court,” a former employee of a Jewish organization argues in his petition for rehearing en banc and petition for panel rehearing....