Jury Questions Remain in Suit by Casino Worker Fired for Refusing Covid Vaccine

In Brown v. MGM Grand Casino, ( ED MI, Nov. 18, 2024), a Michigan federal district court refused to grant summary judgment for either party in a suit by a former warehouse manager for MGM Grand Casino who was fired for refusing to comply with his employer's Covid vaccine mandate. Plaintiff, an Orthodox Apostolic Christian, had applied for a religious accommodation. It was refused. According to the court:

Defendant expressed doubt about the sincerity of Plaintiff’s religious belief.... It also expressed doubt about whether Plaintiff’s belief is religious in nature or purely secular.... Nevertheless, Defendant determined that accommodating Plaintiff would impose an undue burden on Defendant’s operations and denied his request on those grounds....

Defendant cites many non-controlling cases from other Circuits for the proposition that Plaintiff’s objection to the vaccination policy based on his opposition to abortion fails to demonstrate a religious belief, because he does not tie it to a wider religious observance, practice, or outlook....However, the Court is not persuaded by the underlying logic of these cases. Of course, a plaintiff claiming a failure to accommodate is required to demonstrate a connection between their belief and some “religious principle” they follow.... But courts “may not question the veracity of one’s religious beliefs.” ... Thus, a plaintiff need not cite specific tenets of his religion that forbid the contested employment policy or explain how those tenets forbid it. ...

While Plaintiff has demonstrated that his beliefs are religious, it is another question whether his beliefs are sincere....  [T]he factfinder need not take a plaintiff at his word.” ... Defendant has raised several reasons to question Plaintiff’s sincerity, such as the fact that his religious reasoning was not consistent throughout his accommodation request process or in his deposition, or the fact that he described medical reasons for wanting to avoid the vaccine....

Therefore, the Court concludes that material questions of fact remain as to whether Plaintiff has a sincerely held religious belief.

The court also concluded that the employer's undue hardship defense posed a jury question since, among other things, large numbers of workers under collective bargaining agreements were not vaccinated.

IT Specialist Awarded $12.69M For Denied Religious Exemption from Vaccine Mandate

 A Michigan federal district court jury last week awarded damages of $12,690,000 to an IT specialist who was fired from her position after she refused for religious reasons to comply with her employer's Covid vaccine mandate. In Domski v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, (ED MI, Nov. 8, 2024) (Jury Form), plaintiff contended that her Catholic religious beliefs precluded her from complying because of the use of fetal cells in the development of the Covid vaccines. Plaintiff had been employed by Blue Cross Blue Shield for 38 years. Law Enforcement Today and WWJ Radio report on the jury verdict.

6th Circuit Rules on Christian Plaintiffs' Standing to Challenge Michigan's Civil Rights Acts

In Christian Healthcare Centers, Inc. v. Nessel, (6th Cir., Sept. 20, 2024), a Christian membership-based medical service ministry and two Catholic K-12 schools challenged prohibitions on sexual orientation and gender-identity discrimination under Michigan's public accommodation law (EAA) and its Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act. The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals found that plaintiffs had standing to seek an injunction only as to some of their challenges. The court summarized its holding:

In these three related cases, Plaintiffs allege that Michigan’s laws chill their speech and conduct in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.  The district court dismissed each case for want of standing, reasoning that no Plaintiff had shown that Michigan’s laws arguably proscribed its speech or conduct and that, in the alternative, there was no credible threat that Michigan would enforce its laws against any Plaintiff.

We agree only in part....

We express no view regarding the merits of any claim, the appropriate resolution on remand of the motions for preliminary relief, or what conclusions might be warranted concerning any issue after discovery.  We hold only that (a) no Plaintiff has established standing to challenge the EAA, (b) Christian Healthcare has plausibly established standing to challenge the ELCRA’s public-accommodation provision, employment provision, and the publication clauses of each provision, (c) Sacred Heart has plausibly established standing to challenge the same provisions, the ELCRA’s education provision, and the publication clause of that provision, and (d) St. Joseph has failed to plausibly establish standing.

Judge Murphy filed a concurring opinion.

Muslim Woman Can Move Ahead on Some Challenges to Sheriff's Booking Photo Policy

In Hague v. Kent County, (WD MI, Sept. 9, 2024), plaintiff, a Muslim woman, challenged the Kent County, Michigan, Sheriff Office's policy on booking photos for detainees wearing a religious head covering. Two photos were taken, one with the head covering and one without.  Only the one with the head covering is released to the public. The other was uploaded to the Michigan State Police data base. Multiple officers could be present when the photos were taken. The court held that the photo policy imposed a substantial burden on plaintiff's religious exercise in violation of RLUPA. but that money damages are not available for RLUIPA violations. Declaratory or injunctive relief is available. It also allowed plaintiff to move forward with her 1st Amendment free exercise claim, including for damages, against the county and the sheriff's office. The sheriff, though, has qualified immunity as to damage claims under the 1st Amendment.

RLUIPA Success Unlikely on Challenge to Denial of Special Use Permit for Jewish Retreat Center

In Fresh Start Center v. Township of Grosse Ile, (ED MI, Sept. 5, 2024), a Michigan federal district court refused to grant a preliminary injunction in a RLUIPA lawsuit challenging the denial of a variance and a special land use permit to the Fresh Start Center to operate a religious retreat center in an area zoned residential. The Center holds retreats twice a month for Orthodox Jews who have experienced a loss of faith because of trauma. Each retreat involves 4 to 5 participants from all over the world and up to 4 other staff. The court said in part:

Because Plaintiff has not demonstrated a strong likelihood of establishing a substantial burden on the Center’s religious exercise, the Court need not determine whether that substantial burden was the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling government interest....  Here, the Center has not shown there are no feasible alternate locations within the Township and outside the Township where the Center can conduct its retreats.  The only burden the Center has demonstrated is disappointment that it cannot conduct its retreats at the Property.  The present record reveals that being unable to conduct its retreats at a desired location does not rise to the level of a substantial burden.  While the Center may ultimately succeed on the merits once the record is more fully developed, at this juncture it has not shown a strong likelihood of success on the merits of its substantial burden RLUIPA claim....

The court also concluded that plaintiff is unlikely to prevail on a claim that the denial violated the equal terms provision of RLUIPA.

Catholic Counselors Challenge Michigan's Transgender Conversion Therapy Ban

Suit was filed last week in a Michigan federal district court challenging the constitutionality of Michigan statutes that ban counselors from engaging in conversion therapy with minors, particularly as applied to counseling minors regarding their gender identity. The complaint (full text) in Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties v. Whitmer, (WD MI, filed 7/12/2024), alleges that the ban violates counselors' and patients' free speech rights, parents' right to control the upbringing of their children, free exercise rights of plaintiffs and parents, as well as alleging that the statute is void for vagueness.  The complaint reads in part:

115. Plaintiffs intend to continue helping young people live consistently with their own religious beliefs on matters of gender identity and sexuality—including young people who desire to align their gender identity with their biological sex, or who desire to refrain from acting on sexual attractions outside the context of male–female marriage.  

116. HB 4616 prohibits Plaintiffs from using their professional training to help young people who have these goals....

125. Because Plaintiffs are chilled or prohibited from discussing issues of human sexuality and gender identity, their clients are denied access to ideas they wish to hear and to counseling that would help them live consistently with their own personal, religious, and life goals. 

126. Parents of these children are likewise deprived of their right to direct the religious upbringing of their children by obtaining counseling that respects their religious identity. 

127. This acutely impacts religious minorities. Such religious minorities are underrepresented among counselors generally, and it is especially difficult to find counselors willing to counsel minors who are struggling to reconcile their faith with their gender identity and sexuality....

Becket Fund issued a press release announcing the lawsuit. 

Suit Challenges Michigan Medicaid Ban on Abortion Funding

Suit was filed yesterday in the Michigan Court of Claims challenging the exclusion of abortion coverage from the state's Medicaid program. Plaintiff is a local YWCA which operates a Reproductive Health Fund that provides financial support for county residents for reproductive health care, including abortion services. The complaint (full text) Young Women's Christian Association of Kalamazoo, Michigan v. State of Michigan, (MI Ct. Cl., filed 6/27/2024), alleges that the exclusion violates the state Constitutional Amendment protecting reproductive freedom, the Michigan Reproductive Health Act which implemented the Amendment and the ban on sex discrimination. ACLU issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.

Michigan Court Enjoins Abortion Restrictions Including 24-Hour Waiting Period and Consent Form

 In Northland Family Planning Center v. Nessel, (MI Ct. Cl., June 25, 2024), the Michigan Court of Claims issued a preliminary injunction against enforcement of three restrictions on abortion procedures found in Michigan law.  The enjoined provisions impose a 24-hour mandatory waiting period, require a uniform informed consent for women seeking an abortion, and bar advanced practice clinicians from performing abortions. The court held that the provisions are unconstitutional under a state constitutional amendment adopted by referendum in 2022 which grants every individual a fundamental right to reproductive freedom and provides that an "individual’s right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, burdened, nor infringed upon unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means." The court said in part:

... [T]he Court is convinced that the [24-hour] mandatory delay exacerbates the burdens that patients experience seeking abortion care, including by increasing costs, prolonging wait times, increasing the risk that a patient will have to disclose their decision to others, and potentially preventing a patient from having the type of abortion that they prefer....

The informed-consent provisions, read as whole, are designed to force a patient to consider the alternative of not having an abortion. The manner in which the information is presented is not neutral; it is designed to eschew abortion in favor of completing a pregnancy. This forced deliberation, through the mandatory informed-consent process, burdens and infringes upon a patient’s right to make and effectuate decisions about abortion care. The State is metaphorically putting its finger on the scale, thereby infringing upon a patient’s deliberative process.

The court however refused to enjoin provisions calling for oral counseling against coercion and providing resources to victims of domestic violence. Bridge Michigan reports on the decision.

Neo-Nazi Sentenced for Defacing Michigan Synagogue

 In a press release, the Department of Justice announced yesterday:

A Michigan man was sentenced today to 26 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiring with other members of a white supremacist group, The Base, to victimize Black and Jewish people, and for defacing Temple Jacob, a Jewish synagogue in Hancock, Michigan, using swastikas and symbols associated with The Base....

The evidence at trial established that, in September 2019, Weeden, Tobin and Barasneh, all members of The Base, used an encrypted messaging platform to discuss vandalizing property associated with Black and Jewish Americans. Weeden and his co-conspirators dubbed their plan, "Operation Kristallnacht” — a term that means "Night of Broken Glass,” and refers to events that took place on Nov. 9 and 10, 1938, when Nazis murdered Jews and burned and destroyed their homes, synagogues, schools and places of business. Weeden carried out this plan on Sept. 21, 2019, when he spray-painted swastikas and symbols associated with The Base on the outside walls of Temple Jacob....

Obstructing Police Clearing Abortion Clinic Demonstrators Not Protected as Free Exercise

In People of the State of Michigan v. Connolly, (MI App., May 30, 2024), a Michigan state appellate court upheld convictions of four anti-abortion activists. Defendants had conducted a "red rose" rescue-- entering an abortion clinic, handing each client in the waiting room a rose and attempting to convince them not to proceed with abortions. When ordered by police to leave, defendants instead fell limp to the floor, and officers had to carry them out of the building. Defendants were convicted of resisting or obstructing a police officer, trespass and disturbing the peace. Defendants contended in part that the obstructing police conviction violated their First Amendment rights to the Free Exercise of religion because their actions were motivated by their Catholic faith. The court responded:

Defendants do not dispute that MCL 750.81d(1) is facially neutral because it does not refer to religion in any manner.  However, “[f]acial neutrality is not determinative.”... While a law plainly targeting a religion obviously is not neutral, “if the object of a law is to infringe upon or restrict practices because of their religious motivation, the law [also] is not neutral[.]” ...

...  The language of MCL 750.81d is facially neutral, and defendants have not identified any possible legislative intent directed at individuals who practice Catholicism, or even those who oppose abortion on religious grounds.  Indeed, even a brief review of recent caselaw from this Court reveals MCL 750.81d is regularly used to prosecute individuals for reasons completely unrelated to religious beliefs.

The court also rejected vagueness and equal protection defenses.

Cert. Filed In Challenge To Michigan's Blaine Amendment

A petition for certiorari (full text) was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court last week in Hile v. State of Michigan, (Sup. Ct., cert. filed 4/4/2024). In the case, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals held that an amendment placed in the Michigan Constitution in 1970 that prohibits public funds from being used to aid private or religious schools does not violate the equal protection rights of parents who cannot use Michigan Educational Savings Program to send their children to religious schools. (See prior posting.) The Lion reports on the petition for review.

Air Pollution Did Not Violate City Residents' Free Exercise Rights

In Dancer v. United States, (WD MI, March 15, 2024), residents of Kalamazoo, Michigan sued a variety of governmental and private parties alleging injuries from airborne pollution, chemical discharges and odors from a nearby paper mill. Among the 34 separate claims in the lawsuit was a claim that the city's failure to deal with air quality problems caused pollution and odors that interfered with plaintiffs' ability to attend congregational worship services. The Michigan federal district court said in part:

The city’s alleged failure to improve the air quality of its residents does not give rise to a free exercise claim because that failure impacts city residents without regard to their religion.... Ordinarily, a policy or practice that is “neutral, generally applicable, and ‘incidentally burdens religions practices’” does not give rise to a free exercise claim.... Those are the circumstances here.

Man Sentenced To 1 Year + For Threatening Synagogue Shooting

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Michigan, on Monday a 20-year old Michigan man was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison, 3 years of supervised release and restitution payment of $10,648 for sending numerous Instagram messages threatening a mass shooting at an East Lansing, MI synagogue. Notes on defendant's cell phone indicated that he planned to commit suicide after the mass shooting.

Michigan Prisons Implement Settlement Agreement on Religious Practices

In a press release yesterday, the Department of Justice announced that Michigan correctional authorities have now fully implemented prison reforms required by a 2021 settlement agreement. DOJ had alleged that various prison policies violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The challenged policies required at least 5 people for group worship, barred group religious practices for Hindu, Yoruba, Hebrew Israelite and Thelema inmates and allowed access to the kosher Passover diet only to those who were on the year-round kosher diet.  According to DOJ's press release:

MDOC changed each of these policies to expand access to religious practice in compliance with the settlement. Under the revised policies, MDOC allows group religious practice for groups of two or more, permits previously banned religious groups to hold group services and allows people to participate in the Passover diet even if they do not participate in the kosher diet year-round. Department monitoring revealed that a significant number of people whose religious exercise was previously limited by policy can now worship together and can celebrate Passover consistent with their beliefs.

Parents Sue School for Using Teen's Preferred Masculine Name and Pronouns

Suit was filed yesterday in a Michigan federal district court by parents of a 13-year-old biologically female child whose school concealed from the parents that the school was referring to the child by masculine name and male pronouns. The complaint (full text) in Mead v. Rockford Public School District, (WD MI, filed 12/18/2023), alleges in part:

7. These actions ... violated the Meads’ long-settled constitutional rights. The First Amendment protects their right to exercise their religion by directing G.M.’s education and upbringing, including on fundamental questions of existence like how G.M. identifies herself. And the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees their fundamental right to make decisions about her upbringing, education, and healthcare. 

8. By intentionally concealing from the Meads important information about their daughter’s education and health—on a subject as morally fraught as gender confusion—the District denied them these constitutional rights. Absent extraordinary circumstances, a school district’s concealment from parents of such information violates the Constitution.

ADF issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.

Michigan Agency Charges Hair Salon with Gender Identity Discrimination

The Michigan Department of Civil Rights this week filed a charge of sex (gender identity) discrimination on behalf of three claimants with the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. The complaint (full text) in Michigan Department of Civil Rights v. Studio 8 Hair Lab, LLC, (MI Civil Rts. Commn, filed 11/15/2023), says that a Traverse City hair salon posted the following on its business Facebook page:

If a human identifies as anything other than a man/woman please seek services at a local pet groomer. You are not welcome at this salon. Period. Should you request to have a particular pronoun used Please note we may simply refer to you as hey you,,,, This small business has a right to refuse services. We are not bound to any oaths as relators are regarding discrimination.

Follow-up postings included the statement: "There are 2 genders; anything more is a mental health issue." The complaint contends that this posting violates the public accommodation provisions of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. The Department of Civil Rights issued a press release announcing the filing of the discrimination charge.

Michigan Passes Institutional Desecration Ban

 Last week, the Michigan legislature gave final passage to HB 4476 (full text) (legislative history) which creates the crime of "institutional desecration." A person is guilty of the crime if the person:

maliciously and intentionally destroys, damages, defaces, or vandalizes, or makes a true threat to destroy, damage, deface, or vandalize ... because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, physical or mental disability, age, ethnicity, or national origin of another individual or group of individuals....

any religious building, educational institution, library, museum, community center, campground, cemetery, business or charitable institution.  The bill now goes to Governor Whitmer for her signature. Michigan Radio reports on the bill's passage.

Suit Challenges Michigan's Reproductive Freedom Amendment on Federal Constitutional Grounds

In November 2022, Michigan voters passed a state constitutional amendment providing a right to reproductive freedom. Yesterday a group of plaintiffs filed suit in a Michigan federal district court contending that the state constitutional amendment violates the 1st and 14th Amendments to the federal Constitution, as well as the Constitution's Guarantee Clause. Among the 16 plaintiffs is "Jane Roe, a fictitious name on behalf of preborn babies." The complaint (full text) in Right to Life of Michigan v. Whitmer, (WD MI, filed 11/8/2023), alleges in part:

By reason of Article I, § 28 of the Michigan Constitution ..., Defendants have deprived Plaintiffs, specifically including women, and in particular pregnant women; preborn human beings, including Jane Roe and similarly situated individuals; preborn human beings with disabilities; partially born human beings; and human beings born following a failed abortion of the equal protection of the law guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment....

 Article I, § 28 permits individuals, including public school officials, medical professionals, and others, to aid or assist a minor child with procuring an abortion, obtaining contraception, obtaining “gender reassignment” medication or procedures, and becoming sterilized without parental knowledge or consent and with impunity in violation of Plaintiffs’ parental rights protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.

... Article I, § 28 permits adults to engage in sexual acts with minors so long as the minor consents, thereby undermining the right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children in violation of Plaintiffs’ parental rights protected by the Fourteenth Amendment....

Article I, § 28 nullifies all statutory protection provided to physicians and other medical professionals ... who object to abortion, contraception, “gender reassignment” medication/procedures, sterilization, puberty blockers, and other harmful medical procedures related to “reproduction” on moral and religious grounds in violation of their sincerely held religious beliefs....

Article I, § 28 deprives preborn human beings, including Jane Roe and similarly situated individuals, preborn human beings with disabilities, partially born human beings, and human beings born following a failed abortion of the right to life and liberty without due process of law....

Article I, § 28, which was passed pursuant to the process of amending the Michigan Constitution, nullifies the legitimate authority of a coordinate branch of government, the Legislative Branch, by prohibiting it from regulating or governing in a broad area of the law (“reproduction”) that has historically been within its legitimate domain in violation of the Guarantee Clause of the United States Constitution....

Right To Life Michigan issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit. Detroit News reports on the lawsuit.  [Thanks to Scott Mange and Thomas Rutledge for the lead.]

6th Circuit Rejects Equal Protection Challenge To Michigan Ban On Public Funds for Private and Religious Schools

In Hile v. State of Michigan, (6th Cir., Nov. 6, 2023), the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals held that an amendment placed in the Michigan Constitution in 1970 that prohibits public funds from being used to aid private or religious schools does not violate the equal protection rights of parents who cannot use Michigan Educational Savings Program to send their children to religious schools. Plaintiffs contended that the state constitutional provision was motivated by anti-Catholic bias and based their equal protection claim on the political process doctrine. As articulated by the court:

They claim that because of the amendment, religious persons and schools cannot lobby their state representatives for governmental aid or tuition help without first amending the state constitution, which they argue disadvantages them in the political process.

The court first expressed doubt about the continued viability of the political process doctrine, and particularly whether a political process claim can be based on religious discrimination.  The court went on to hold that regardless of that, a 2000 election in which voters reauthorized the 1970 Amendment purged the provision of any religious bias that was present in the 1970 vote.

Justice Murphy dissented, contending that plaintiffs' clam should be dismissed without prejudice for lack of plaintiffs' standing.

Episcopal Priest Sues County Commissioners Over Invocation Policy

Suit was filed this week in a Michigan federal district court by an Episcopal Priest in Grand Haven, Michigan, challenging the manner in which the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners currently selects individuals to deliver invocations at Board meetings. The complaint (full text) in Cramer v. Ottawa County, (WD MI, filed 10/2/2023), alleges that prior to 2023, different Commissioners on a rotating basis selected individuals to offer invocations. However, since January 2023 when Joe Moss became Chairperson of the Commission, only he selects persons to give invocations.  He has selected only male pastors of Christian churches who share his religious beliefs.  Some of the pastors have included in their invocations praise for a far-right political group that Moss founded and leads. Plaintiff is an advocate of LGBTQ rights, while Moss has promoted an anti-LGBTQ agenda. Grand Haven Tribune reports on the lawsuit.