Supreme Court Review Sought by California Baker

A petition for certiorari (full text) was filed this week in Miller v. Civil Rights Division, (Sup. Ct., certiorari filed 8/26/2025). In the case, a California state appellate court held that a bakery, Cathy's Creations, and its owner violated the anti-discrimination provisions of California law when they refused to sell a predesigned cake to a customer because the cake would be used at a same-sex wedding reception. The California court rejected defendant's free exercise and free speech defenses. (See prior posting.) The California Supreme Court denied review. Washington Times reports on the petition seeking U.S. Supreme Court review.

Exclusion of Religious Organization from Non-Profit Discount Challenged Under California's Unruh Act

Suit was filed yesterday in a California federal district court by a Christian non-profit claiming that OpenAI's non-profit discount policy that excludes academic, medical, religious, and governmental institutions violates plaintiff's rights under California's Unruh Civil Rights Act. The complaint (full text) in Holy Sexuality v. OpenAI, Inc., (SD CA, filed 5/21/2025), alleges in part:

1. Plaintiff Holy Sexuality is a Christian nonprofit based in Texas that uses video courses to teach young people and their families about biblical principles on human sexuality.  

2. To operate more effectively, Holy Sexuality contacted Defendant OpenAI, Inc., a San Francisco-based tech company, to receive OpenAI’s 20% nonprofit discount for a ChatGPT subscription....  

4. But OpenAI and Goodstack denied Holy Sexuality the discount because “religious … institutions are not eligible.” 

5. This categorical denial, OpenAI’s published policy, and Goodstack’s enforcement of that policy are invidious religious discrimination. And they are illegal under California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act....

6. People of faith aren’t second-class citizens in California, and tech companies cannot provide lesser services to customers simply because they are religious....

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

Coffee House Sued Over Separate Antisemitic Incidents Involving Harassment of Customers

 A suit under California's Unruh Civil Rights Act alleging religious discrimination was filed yesterday in a California state trial court against an Oakland, California coffee house that (unknown to plaintiff) had a history of promoting menu items with names connected with Hamas. The complaint (full text) in Hirsch v. Native Grounds, Inc. (D/B/A Jerusalem Coffee House), (CA Super. Ct., filed 3/3/2025), alleges that plaintiff, a Jewish American who entered the coffee house with his 5-year-old son, was asked restaurant's owner (also a defendant) to leave because he was wearing a baseball cap that featured a Jewish star.  The complaint alleges in part:

26. Within minutes of sitting down, Mr. Hirsch was approached by Defendant Harara. Harara demanded to know whether Hirsch was a “Zionist.” ... When Hirsch refused to answer Harara’s question, Harara demanded that he leave the premises. 

27. Harara threatened to call the police and repeatedly demanded that Hirsch leave the premises, which he described as his private business.... When Hirsch pointed out that he was being asked to leave because his hat depicted a Jewish star, Harara stated that “this is a violent hat, and you need to leave.” 

28. An employee of the East Bay Community Space ... stated that it was the business’ right and that “they could ask you to leave for any reason.” Mr. Hirsch again pointed out that a business cannot refuse service to someone solely ... because of their religion. Raven [the employee] disagreed, claiming “they’re allowed to ask you to leave for any reason” and ... claiming that “the only reason they know you’re a protected class is that you’re putting on your hat. You’re choosing to be here in this situation.”

San Francisco Standard reports on the lawsuit.

This suit follows one filed in a California federal district court by another plaintiff several days earlier alleging antisemitic discrimination at the same coffee house.  The complaint (full text) in Radice v. Jerusalem Boxing Club, LLC, (ND CA, filed 2/27/2025), alleges in part:

2. Once in July 2024 and once in August 2024, Mr. Radice visited Oakland in connection with his work as the interim executive director for a nonprofit organization to secure the East Bay Community Space ... as a venue for a fundraiser event for that nonprofit organization. The Community Space’s building houses JBC and JCH [Jerusalem Coffee House]. 

3. On both occasions, Mr. Radice was harassed and excluded from JCH (a place of public accommodation), explicitly because he is Jewish. On the second occasion, Mr. Radice was refused service and followed out of JCH and down the block. Accordingly, JBC violated Mr. Radice’s civil rights under both federal and California law. 

ADL issued a press release announcing the filing of this lawsuit.

Suit Challenges Software Company's Denial of Discount to Christian Nonprofit

A suit under California's Unruh Civil Rights Act was filed yesterday in a California federal district court by a Christian nonprofit organization that offers a video curriculum designed to instruct teenagers about Christian beliefs on sexuality.  The complaint (full text) in Holy Sexuality v. Asana, Inc., (SD CA, filed 2/18/25), alleges that Asana, Inc. which sells subscriptions for project management software, violated the public accommodation religious discrimination provisions of California law when it denied plaintiff the 50% discount offered to nonprofits. According to the complaint:

To qualify, nonprofits must: have 501(c)(3) status; not be an education or academic institution, hospital, hospital auxiliary, nurse register, mutual organization, or credit union; and not “advocate, support, or practice discrimination based on age, ethnicity, gender, national origin, disability, race, size, religion, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic background.”...

But, under its Religious Discrimination Policy, Asana denies that discount to “[r]eligious organizations that exist to solely propagate a belief in a specific faith.”...

Asana’s religious discrimination was and remains arbitrary, especially because Asana grants discounts to nonprofits who hold views opposite to Holy Sexuality’s and grants discounts to other religious nonprofits.

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

California Legislature Passes Amendment to Outlaw Caste Discrimination

California's Unruh Civil Rights Act already bars discrimination, among other things, on the basis of "ancestry". The California legislature this week gave final passage to an amendment to the Act (full text) that adds a definition of "ancestry", making it clear that it includes discrimination on the basis of caste. The amendment defines "caste" as "a system of social stratification on the basis of inherited status". The bill now goes to Governor Gavin Newsom for his signature. The Independent reports on the passage of the bill and on those who opposed its passage.

Baker With Religious Objections to Same-Sex Marriage Did Not Violate California's Civil Rights Law

In a tentative decision which becomes final in ten days unless objections are filed, a California state trial court has concluded that a bakery which refuses on religious grounds to furnish custom designed cakes for same-sex weddings and instead refers customers to another bakery for such items did not violate the Unruh Civil Rights Act. In Department of Fair Employment and Housing v. Cathy's Creations, Inc., (CA Super. Ct., Oct. 21, 2022), the court concluded that the state failed to prove intentional sexual orientation discrimination, saying in part:

Miller and Tastries do not design and do not offer to any person-- regardless of sexual orientation-- custom wedding cakes that "contradict God's sacrament of marriage between a man and a woman.

The court went on to hold that because California's Unruh Civil Rights Act is a neutral law of general applicability, the state did not violate defendant's free exercise rights. However, application of the Unruh Civil Rights Act here would violate defendants' free speech rights because it would compel expressive conduct based on content or viewpoint. Thomas More Society issued a press release announcing the decision.

Catholic Hospital Sued Over Refusal Of Gender Reassignment Surgery

A transgender male filed suit this week in a California state trial court against Dignity Heath.  Following Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services that prohibit direct sterilization, Dignity Health's Mercy San Juan Medical Center refused to perform a hysterectomy as part of plaintiff's treatment for gender dysphoria. The complaint (full text) in Minton v. Dignity Health, (CA Super. Ct., filed 4/19/2017), contend that the refusal constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex in violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act.  ACLU issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit. Sacramento Bee reports on the suit.

Barber Shop That Refused Transgender Customer on Religious Grounds Settles

In a press release issued last week, Lambda Legal announced it had reached a settlement with a California barber shop that had refused to cut the hair of a transgender man because the owner perceived the customer to be a female. The owner later told reporters that he had religious objections to cutting women's hair, saying that God made a clear distinction between genders and "it’s a shame for a man to have long hair, but if a woman has long hair, it’s her glory." The stipulated final judgement (full text) in Oliver v. The Barbershop R.C., Inc., (CA Super. Ct., Jan. 19, 2017), recites that defendants violated California's Unruh Civil Rights Act and enjoins them from discriminating on the basis of sex, including on the basis of actual or perceived gender, gender identity or gender expression.

Settlement Requires ChristianMingle To Include Same-Sex Date Searching

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, last week a California trial court entered a consent decree settling an Unruh Civil Rights Act class action that had been brought by two gay men against the dating sites ChristianMingle.com, CatholicMingle.com, AdventistSinglesConnection.com and BlackSingles.com. Plaintiffs charged that the sites did not allow users to meet singles of the same sex, thus violating state anti-discrimination laws that require business establishments to offer equal services regardless of sexual orientation. The judgment (full text) in Sparks Network Unruh Act Cases, (CA Super. Ct., June 27, 2016), requires that for the next two years the home pages of the sites must no longer provide the choices of "man seeking woman" and "woman seeking man," but instead only ask whether the user is a Man or Woman.  Those seeking a same-sex match can then search using text searching and profile building tools.  After that, the sites can be reconfigured so long as there is an option for those seeking a same-sex match to do so without indicating they are seeking someone of the opposite sex. The judgment also calls for future changes to create equal matching services.  Finally the judgment calls for defendant to pay damages totaling $18,000 and attorneys fees of $450,000.

Transgender Man Sues Men-Only Barber Shop That Refused Him Service

A state court lawsuit was filed last week in California against a men-only barber shop and two of its barbers who, for religious reasons, refused to cut the hair of a transgender man.  The complaint (full text) in Oliver v. The Barbershop, R.C., Inc., (CA Super., filed 5/24/2016), relates the following reasons given to reporters by the barber shop's owner for the policy:

"It's a shame for a man to have long hair, but if a woman has long hair, it's her glory and it speaks to being given to her as her covering, and I don't want to be the one who is taking away from her glory."  Hernandez also told reporters that when "people go against what God has created, you start getting everything out of whack."

The suit seeks injunctive relief under California's Unruh Civil Rights Act. A Lambda Legal press release reports on the case.

Religious College That Expelled Transgender Student Not Covered By Unruh Act

In Cabading v. California Baptist University, (CA Super. Ct., July 11, 2014), a California trial court held that a private religious college did not violate California's Unruh Civil Rights Act when it expelled Domainlor Javier Cabading, a pre-operative male-to-female transgender person who had been admitted to the school on a merit scholarship. The University claimed Cabading committed fraud by applying for admission as a female. The court held that the private Southern Baptist school is not a "business establishment", and so is not covered by the state anti-discrimination law. However the school's ancillary programs that are open to the public-- its library, counseling center, and retail businesses such as restaurants operating on school property-- are "business establishments" covered by the Act. The court awarded plaintiff $4000 in damages for her exclusion from these programs. The Riverside County Press-Enterprise reports that the school is considering appealing the portion of the decision that went against it. MSNBC and Transgender Workplace Law & Diversity blog also report on the decision.