Lutheran School Seeks Dismissal of Sexual Orientation Bias Claim

Defense attorneys have moved to dismiss a widely publicized suit against the California Lutheran High School Association and Cal Lutheran High School in Wildomar, California, according to last Wednesday's North Coast Times. The suit brought by two students and their parents claimed that the school violated California's Unruh Civil Rights Act when it expelled the two students who were suspected of having a lesbian relationship. (See prior posting.) Defense attorneys argue that the school merely expelled two students who violated the school's Christian Code of Conduct. They claim that the Unruh Civil Rights Act that covers businesses should not apply to a nonprofit religious school. A provision in Sec. 220 of California's Education Code excludes religious schools from coverage of the anti-discrimination provision that applies explicitly to schools when its requirement would be inconsistent with the school's religious tenets. Defendants also argue that applying the law to the school would violate its associational rights, and that ordering the school to suppress its religious beliefs in admitting students would violate the Establishment Clause.