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D has long operated an unemployment compensation program that seeks to mitigate and “more fairly” distribute the “economic burdens resulting from unemployment.” D’s regime contains an exemption for religious employers that covers nonprofit organizations “operated, supervised, controlled, or principally supported by a church or convention or association of churches,” but only if they are “operated primarily for religious purposes.” P is a nonprofit organization that serves as the social ministry arm of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin. P's stated mission is to “carry on the redeeming work of our Lord.” P “provides services to the poor and disadvantaged” and seeks to “be an effective sign of the charity of Christ.” P does not distinguish on the basis of “race, sex, or religion in reference to clients served, staff employed, and board members appointed.” The Roman Catholic Diocese of Superior exercises control over P and its subentities. The bishop of the Diocese serves as P's president and appoints its membership. Employees of P and its subentities are not required to adhere to any particular religious faith, and the same is true for the recipients of their charitable services. Participants in P's charitable programs do not receive religious training or orientation, and neither P nor its subentities “tries to ‘inculcate’” participants with the Catholic faith. That rule reflects religious doctrine prohibiting Catholic bodies from “‘misusing works of charity for purposes of proselytism.’” In 2016, P sought from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development a determination that they qualified for the religious-employer exemption set forth in Wis. Stat. §108.02(15)(h)(2). D denied their request. D determined that P was not “operated primarily for religious purposes” within the meaning of the statute. P appealed, and an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) reversed D’s ruling. The decision was reversed by D. P sought judicial review in state court, the state trial court overrode D, holding that P was entitled to the exemption. The State Court of Appeals reversed. The decision was reversed by D. P sought judicial review in state court, the state trial court overrode D, holding that P was entitled to the exemption. The State Court of Appeals reversed. It reasoned that P is not “operated primarily for religious purposes” because the “provision of charitable social services... is neither inherently nor primarily religious activities.” The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed. The court interpreted the statutory phrase “operated primarily for religious purposes” to require judicial inquiry into not only an organization’s “motivations” but also its “activities.” The court held that lower courts should “focus on whether an organization participated in worship services, religious outreach, ceremony, or religious education.” The court held that P's activities are “secular in nature,” not religious. The court addressed P's argument that its interpretation of §108.02(15)(h)(2) violated the First Amendment’s Religion Clauses. It held that the exemption “neither regulates internal church governance nor mandates any activity” and there was no risk of excessive government entanglement with religion because D’s exemption does not ask whether P's “activities are consistent or inconsistent with Catholic doctrine.” It then ruled that P's argument that its interpretation contravened First Amendment principles of “‘neutrality among religions’” by “‘favoring religious groups that require those they serve to adhere to the faith of that group or be subject to proselytization’” failed because P had not “demonstrated that the statute imposes a constitutionally significant burden on their religious practice” in the first place. P appealed.

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