Defendant's Religious Beliefs Fair Game in Employment Case

The New York Daily News reports that the New York Supreme Court (a trial court) has determined that an employer can be required to answer interrogatories about his religious beliefs when those beliefs are "relied upon to form a basis of discrimination against a person who is a member of a protected class." The opinion can be found here.

Defendant argued that his individual associational privacy rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments and his individual beliefs and freedom of exercise of religion under the religion clauses of the US and NY Constitutions are absolute, and that no compelling state interest exists so as to compel him to divulge those beliefs. Disagreeing, the judge concluded:

It is the duty of every Court to guard jealously the great right and privilege of free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship without discrimination or preference, with all the power that the Court possesses, but no person should be permitted to use that right as a cloak for acts of discrimination or as a justification of practices inconsistent with the protections against invidious discrimination proscribed in New York State law.

Without ruling whether any answer given would be admissible at trial, the judge has required the defendant to answer the following questions:

“State whether defendant [] believes that ‘homosexuality is a sin against God.'"
“State whether defendant [] believes that ‘gays and lesbians are doomed to eternal damnation."
“State whether defendant [] regards homosexuals as ‘repulsive.'”

The case is Fairchild v. Riva Jewelry Mfg., Inc., No. 101169/2006, 2007 NY Slip Op 31857 (June 28, 2007).

Leonard Link also has an analysis of this case.