Former Magistrate Receives Damages In Settlement Over Refusal To Perform Same-Sex Marriages

According to a press release this week from Becket, the North Carolina court system last November agreed to a settlement with a former North Carolina magistrate who was forced to resign in 2014 because of her objections to performing same-sex marriage ceremonies.  Under the settlement of a complaint filed with the EEOC, magistrate Sandra Myrick will receive $210,000 in damages and $115,000 in attorneys fees. (Full text of settlement agreement).  The settlement came 8 months after the decision by an Administrative Law Judge in Myrick v. Warren, (EEOC, March 8, 2017) holding that the EEOC has jurisdiction over Myrick's religious discrimination complaint under the Government Employees Rights Act of 1991.  The ALJ also concluded that Myrick had demonstrated a prima facie case of religious discrimination and that she had not been offered an accommodation.