Suit was filed last week in a Virginia state trial court by Christian parents of a developmentally disabled child who sought to employ a regular babysitter who is Christian to help raise their daughter in the Christian tradition. The Virginia Human Rights Act was amended in July 2021 to bars use of religion as a motivating factor in hiring domestic workers, including babysitters, and to bar expressing religious preferences in employment ads. The complaint (full text) in Woodruff v. Herring, (VA Cir. Ct., filed 10/28/2021) contends that application of this law to plaintiffs burdens their free exercise of religion in violation of the Virginia Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Foundation for Parental Rights issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]
