Homeless Shelter Can Limit Hiring to Coreligionists

In Union Gospel Mission of Yakima, Wash. v. Ferguson, (ED WA, Nov. 1, 2024), a Washington federal district court granted a preliminary injunction to a religious organization that operates a homeless shelter and thrift stores. The injunction bars the state's attorney general from enforcing the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) against plaintiff for limiting all its hiring to coreligionists who adhere to the organization's religious tenets and behavior requirements. In 2021 the Washington Supreme Court interpreted the exemption in the WLAD for non-profit religious organizations to apply only to hiring for ministerial positions. The federal district court here held that the WLAD is subject to strict scrutiny since it is not a neutral, generally applicable law. It treats religious organizations differently than secular employers who are exempt if they have fewer than eight employees. According to the court, a less restrictive way of advancing the state's interest is to exempt all employees of nonprofit religious organizations as Washington had done before the state Supreme Court decision narrowing the interpretation of the WLAD exemption. An ADF press release has additional background.

Defendant Sentenced To 11 Years for Arson Attacks on Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Halls

Last Friday, a Washington federal district court sentenced 52-year-old Mikey Diamond Starrett to 11 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for setting fire to three separate Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Halls and shooting into another Kingdom Hall. According to a Department of Justice press release, Starett pled guilty to four counts of violating the Church Arson Prevention Act and one count of using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington said:

Starrett’s attacks irrevocably destroyed the sense of safety and peace that a house of worship is supposed to provide, and caused severe, permanent harm to the Jehovah’s Witness community in Washington. These were not crimes against buildings, but a series of attacks against a community and a faith.

9th Circuit: Ministry Has Standing to Challenge Washington Antidiscrimination Law

In Union Gospel Mission of Yakima, Washington v. Ferguson, (9th Cir., Aug. 12, 2024), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that a Christian Ministry has standing to challenge the constitutionality of the Washington Law Against Discrimination insofar as it bars plaintiff from requiring all its employees to sign a statement of faith and core values.  The statement requires employees to adhere to Christian lifestyle and behavior, including Christian beliefs on marriage and sexuality. However, the court remanded the case for the trial court to consider the issue of prudential ripeness and to consider plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction. [Thanks to Thomas Rutledge for the lead.]

States Lack Standing to Challenge FDA's Rules on Dispensing of Abortion Pill

In State of Washington v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, (9th Cir., July 24, 2024), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to permit the state of Idaho (and 6 other states) to intervene in a lawsuit brought by a group of states led by the state of Washington challenging the FDA's restrictions on pharmacies' dispensing of the abortion pill mifepristone. FDA regulations adopted in 2021 allow mifepristone to be dispensed by pharmacies in retail locations or by mail, but only if the pharmacy is specially certified to do so. Washington's lawsuit contends that the certification and documentation requirements are unnecessary.  Idaho, on the other hand, wants the court to order the FDA to go back to earlier requirements that only allowed mifepristone to be dispensed in person by a physician and did not allow it to be obtained directly from pharmacies. The court concluded that because Idaho seeks fundamentally different relief that does Washington, it must establish its own standing in order to intervene. The court concluded that Idaho did not have separate standing, saying in part:

Idaho first alleges that elimination of the in-person dispensing requirement will cause the state economic injury in the form of increased costs to the state’s Medicaid system.  At oral argument, Idaho stated that this is its “strongest basis” for standing.  Even taking Idaho’s highly speculative allegations as true, the complaint does not demonstrate an injury-in-fact because it depends on an attenuated chain of healthcare decisions by independent actors that will have only indirect effects on state revenue....

Idaho next alleges that elimination of the in-person dispensing requirement will harm its sovereign interest in law enforcement by making illegal mifepristone use harder to detect.  This allegation is insufficient to convey standing because nothing in the 2023 REMS impairs Idaho’s sovereign authority to enact or enforce its own laws regulating chemical abortion....

Finally, Idaho alleges that elimination of the in-person dispensing requirement will harm its “quasi-sovereign interest” in maternal health and fetal life.  Idaho cannot sue FDA on this basis because the allegations concern the interests of individual citizens—not the separate interests of the state itself....

Courthouse News Service reports on the decision. [Thanks to Thomas Rutledge for the lead.]

Washington State AG Investigating Sex Abuse Cover-Up by Catholic Diocese

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced yesterday that it has filed a petition to enforce a subpoena against the Catholic Diocese of Seattle in the AG's investigation of allegations of the misuse of charitable funds to cover up clergy child sex abuse claims. The Seattle Diocese has refused to cooperate in the investigation of three dioceses in the state. The Petition to Enforce the Subpoena of the Complex Litigation Division, (Super. Ct., filed 5/9/2024) (full text) says in part:

Although the Church has released only limited records regarding the extent of its complicity in the sexual abuse of children by its clergy, these limited records make clear that the Archdiocese in Washington State not only failed to warn the public about serial child sex abusers within the Church’s ranks, but actively protected such abusers and repeatedly ensured they would have access to new child victims by frequently allowing them to transfer locations. One especially illustrative example is Father Michael J. Cody, whom the Archdiocese allowed to minister in multiple parishes for over 15 years without ever warning the public, reporting his extensive history of sexually abusing children, or taking any meaningful action to protect the many vulnerable children he victimized.

Relying on Washington's Charitable Trust Act in subpoenaing the Diocese, the AG argues that the religious organization exemption in the Act should not be applied to prevent a sexual abuse investigation. It also argues that the 1st Amendment's Free Exercise clause does not shield the Diocese here.

Ban on Caste Discrimination Is Constitutional

In Bagal v. Sawant, (WD WA, March 8, 2024), a Washington federal district court rejected First and 14th Amendment challenges to the City of Seattle's adding of "caste" as a protected class under its anti-discrimination Ordinance. The court said in part:

First, Plaintiff argues that incorporating “caste” into existing anti-discrimination laws ipso facto creates a stigma, levelled towards a specific and insular minority group, namely members of the Hindu religion....

Plaintiff simply does not allege they are burdened, in any manner, from practicing their faith.... [H]aving failed to allege a cognizable injury, Plaintiff de facto lacks standing to assert a Free Exercise challenge to the Ordinance. Plaintiff’s Establishment Clause claim is similarly unavailing.... Fundamentally, Plaintiff’s reasoning is that the City of Seattle’s involvement on an issue of equal importance to practitioners of a certain religion becomes, as a consequence, activity in favor or opposition to that religion. And that, because the City of Seattle opted to disfavor caste-based forms of discrimination, a fortiori it condemned all notions of caste as it was understood by any religion. But that logic proves too much. And even assuming, arguendo, that the Ordinance does condemn notions of caste as is believed by a certain religion, that does not constitute activity in support or disparagement of that religion. For instance, birth control is a topic that involves both religious beliefs and general welfare concerns. And yet, no court has ever held that government approval of birth control violates the Establishment Clause....

It is not enough, in other words, that the anti-caste legislation strikes members of a religion as reflecting poorly on their religious beliefs.... In this case, the Ordinance’s principal effect is not to endorse a religion, but simply to bolster local anti-discrimination laws.  Any coincidental reference to a shared phenomenon (such as caste) is secondary, if not wholly, immaterial....

Second, Plaintiff contends that the Ordinance violates the Equal Protection Clause....

Nowhere does the text of the Ordinance make use of prohibited classifications.  Rather, the Ordinance is facially neutral and of general applicability.  Moreover, wholly absent from Plaintiff’s complaint are any facts suggesting that the legislative drafters were actually motivated by racial or ethnic animus.... Further to the point, Plaintiff’s complaint does not plausibly allege that the City of Seattle has applied the Ordinance in a discriminatory manner.

Certiorari Denied in Challenge to Conversion Therapy Ban

Today by a vote of 6-3, the U.S. Supreme Court denied review in Tingley v. Ferguson, (Docket No. 22-942, certiorari denied 12/11/2023). In the case the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected free speech, free exercise and vagueness challenges to Washington state's ban on practicing conversion therapy on minors. (See prior posting.) Justice Thomas filed an opinion dissenting from the denial of certiorari, saying in part:

Under SB 5722, licensed counselors can speak with minors about gender dysphoria, but only if they convey the state-approved message of encouraging minors to explore their gender identities. Expressing any other message is forbidden—even if the counselor’s clients ask for help to accept their biological sex. That is viewpoint-based and content-based discrimination in its purest form. As a result, SB 5722 is presumptively unconstitutional, and the state must show that it can survive strict scrutiny before enforcing it.

The Ninth Circuit attempted to sidestep this framework by concluding that counseling is unprotected by the First Amendment because States have traditionally regulated the practice of medicine....

This case is not the first instance of the Ninth Circuit restricting medical professionals’ First Amendment rights, and without the Court’s review, I doubt it will be the last.

Justice Alito filed a brief opinion dissenting from the denial of review. Justice Kavanaugh also indicated that he would grant the petition for certiorari.

Christian Non-Profit Cannot Rescind Job Offer Because of Same-Sex Marriage

In McMahon v. World Vision, Inc., (WD WA, Nov. 28, 2023), a Washington federal district court held that a Christian non-profit organization violated Title VII and the Washington Law Against Discrimination when it rescinded a job offer originally made to plaintiff after it learned that she was in a same-sex marriage. Plaintiff had been offered the position of customer service representative which involved telephone cultivation of donor relationships. The court held that the religious employer exemption in Title VII only immunizes religious discrimination by such organizations; it does not immunize them from sex discrimination claims. It also held that the ministerial exception doctrine does not apply to the position offered to plaintiff.

Similarly, the rejected the bona fide occupational qualification defense, saying in part:

Nothing in the record indicates that being in a same-sex marriage affects one’s ability to place and field donor calls, converse with donors, pray with donors, update donor information, upsell World Vision programs, or participate in devotions and chapel.

The court went on to find that both Title VII and the WLAD are neutral laws of general applicability so that only rational basis review is required. Finally the court rejected defendants' free speech and expressive association claims.

Religious Organization Lacks Standing to Challenge Interpretation of State Anti-Discrimination law

In Union Gospel Mission of Yakima, Wash. v. Ferguson, (ED WA, Sept. 1, 2023), a Washington federal district court dismissed for lack of standing a suit challenging the constitutionality of the Washington Supreme Court's interpretation of the state's anti-discrimination law. The state Supreme Court in a prior case interpreted the statute's exemption for non-profit religious organizations to be limited to situations covered by the ministerial exemption doctrine.  In this case, plaintiff that operates a homeless shelter and thrift store and also provides social services sought a declaration that religious organizations have a constitutional right to hire, even in non-ministerial positions, only those who agree with its religious beliefs and who will comply with its religious tenets and behavior requirements. In dismissing the lawsuit, the court found that there was no credible threat of enforcement against plaintiff, and that this suit was a disguised attempt to appeal a Washington Supreme Court decision in violation of the Rooker-Feldman Doctrine.

Conscience Clause in Health Insurance Mandate Does Not Violate Church's Free Exercise

In Cedar Park Assembly of God of Kirkland, Washington v. Kreidler, (WD WA, July 25, 2023), a Washington federal district court dismissed a free exercise challenge by a church to a Washington law requiring all health insurance plans that provide maternity coverage to also provide substantially equivalent abortion coverage. Under the law, employers with religious or moral objections to specific services do not have to purchase coverage for those services, but enrollees must still be able to access coverage for the services. The court said in part:

None of the State’s arguments seem to fully address the crux of Cedar Park’s facilitation complaint: that its employees would not have access to covered abortion services absent Cedar Park’s post-SB 6219 plan. This fact is undisputed and undoubtedly true. Because of SB 6219, Cedar Park’s employees gained coverage for abortion services under their employer-sponsored health insurance plan that they would not otherwise have. Even if the “facilitation” is somewhat minimal, SB 6219 requires Cedar Park to facilitate access to covered abortion services contrary to Cedar Park’s religious beliefs....

Because the Court concludes that SB 6219 is neutral and generally applicable, the law is valid if it is rationally related to a legitimate governmental purpose....

The Washington legislature identified multiple legitimate governmental purposes for enacting SB 6219, including promoting gender equity, promoting economic success of women, improving women’s health, and protecting privacy.

State Law May Bar Women's Spa from Refusing to Serve Transgender Women Who Have Not Had Sex-Confirmation Surgery

In Olympus Spa v. Armstrong, (WD WA, June 5, 2023), a Washington federal district court dismissed, with leave to amend, a suit by a Korean style spa designed for women. The suit challenges Washington's public accommodation law which bars discrimination, among other things, on the basis of gender expression or identity.  Because spa patrons are required to be naked during certain spa services (massages and body scrubs), the spa refuses to serve transgender women who have not gone through post-operative sex-confirmation surgery. The spa advertises itself as welcoming "biological women." Three of the spas employees and one of its patrons are also plaintiffs in the case.  Plaintiffs claim that their requiring them to service nude males and females in the same rooms substantially burdens the exercise of their religious beliefs.  The court held however that because the public accommodation law is neutral and generally applicable, it needs to meet only rational basis review and does so because of the state's interest in ensuring equal access to public accommodation. 

The court also rejected plaintiffs' claim that their free expression rights were violated by requiring them to remove language from their website that only "biological women" are females. The court said in part:

The WLAD [Washington Law Against Discrimination] bars Olympus Spa from denying services to customers based on sexual orientation and, in this regard, it incidentally burdens Olympus Spa’s speech by prohibiting advertisement of discriminatory entrance policies (e.g., one that permits only “biological women”). But that does not convert the WLAD into a content-based regulation....

Finally, the court dismissed plaintiffs' freedom of association claims, saying in part:

The Court does not minimize the privacy concerns at play when employees are performing exfoliating massages on nude patrons. Aside from this nudity, though, there is simply nothing private about the relationship between Olympus Spa, its employees, and the random strangers who walk in the door seeking a massage. Nor is there anything selective about the association at issue beyond Olympus Spa’s “biological women” policy. The Court therefore has little difficulty concluding that the personal attachments implicated here are too attenuated to qualify for constitutional protection.

Governors In Minnesota and Washington Sign Bills Protecting Access to Abortion and Gender-Affirming Care

On April 27, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed three bills protecting right to abortion and gender-affirming health care.  A press release from the Governor's Office describes the legislation:

Chapter 28, House File 16 prohibits mental health practitioners or mental health professionals from providing conversion therapy to vulnerable adults and clients under age 18. The bill also prohibits fraudulent or deceptive advertising practices relating to conversion therapy.

Chapter 29, House File 146 prevents state courts or officials from complying with child removal requests, extraditions, arrests, or subpoenas related to gender-affirming health care that a person receives in Minnesota....

Chapter 31, House File 366 , the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act, ensures that patients traveling to Minnesota for abortion care, and the providers who serve them, are protected from legal attacks and criminal penalties from other states.

In Washington state, on April 27 Governor Jay Inslee signed five bills protecting access to abortion and gender-affirming services. A press release from the Governor's office describes the legislation:

In anticipation of a Trump-appointed judge’s ruling pulling a common and safe abortion pill from shelves nationally, the governor acted quickly to secure a three-year supply of mifepristone for the state that could be distributed regardless of federal court action.

With the 30,000 doses being held by the state Department of Corrections, all that was left to do was pass a bill that authorized the department to distribute the medication to health providers.... SB 5768 ... does just that....

... Shield Law, HB 1469... prohibits compliance with out-of-state subpoenas related to abortion and gender affirming care services; prevents cooperation with out-of-state investigations; bans extraditions related to abortion and gender affirming care services that occur legally in Washington; and protects providers from harassment for providing these services.....

Inslee also signed a bill to ensure health providers can’t be disciplined for providing legal reproductive health services or gender affirming care in Washington. HB 1340... protects health providers from disciplinary action or having their licenses revoked for “unprofessional conduct” if the care provided follows state law, regardless of where their patient resides.....

HB 1155, the “My Health, My Data” Act, ... will increase privacy protections around collecting, sharing and selling consumer health data. Some popular consumer products can track and share data on individuals’ health — and protections around the use of that data became more necessary with the attack on abortion care in other states....

Patients often face cost-sharing [under their health insurance plans] for receiving abortion care. SB 5242 eliminates cost-sharing for abortions and protects patients from unexpected expenses they may not be able to cover.

Supreme Court Review Sought in Challenge to Conversion Therapy Ban

On March 27, a petition for certiorari (full text) was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in Tingley v. Ferguson. In the case, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied an en banc rehearing of a 3-judge panel's decision rejecting free speech, free exercise and vagueness challenges to Washington state's ban on practicing conversion therapy on minors. Conversion therapy encourages change in sexual orientation or gender identity. (See prior posting). SCOTUSblog  reports on the petition for review.

Contradictory Orders From 2 District Court on FDA's Approval of Abortion Pill

In Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food & Drug Administration, (ND TX, April 7, 2023), a Texas federal district court held that plaintiffs have a substantial likelihood of success on their claim that the FDA's 2021 action allowing the abortion drug mifepristone to be distributed by mail violates the Comstock Act and thus was also in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. The court also concluded that the FDA's approval in 2000 of doctors prescribing mifepristone violated the agency's rules for approval of new drugs. The FDA rules (Subpart H) relied upon to approve the drug apply to "new drug products that have been studied for their safety and effectiveness in treating serious or life-threatening illnesses and that provide meaningful therapeutic benefit to patients over existing treatments...."  The court said in part:

[T]o satisfy Subpart H, FDA deemed pregnancy a “serious or life-threatening illness[]” and concluded that mifepristone “provide[d] [a] meaningful therapeutic benefit to patients over existing treatments.” See 21 C.F.R. §§ 314.500; 314.560. FDA was wrong on both counts....

Pregnancy is a normal physiological state most women experience one or more times during their childbearing years — a natural process essential to perpetuating human life. Defendants even admit pregnancy is not an “illness.”...

FDA also exceeded its authority under the second requirement of Subpart H. In addition to treating a serious or life-threatening illness, chemical abortion drugs must also provide a “meaningful therapeutic benefit” to patients over surgical abortion... [T]his cannot be the case because chemical abortion drugs do not treat “serious or life-threatening illnesses” — a prerequisite to reaching the second requirement.... Similarly, chemical abortion drugs cannot be “therapeutic” because the word relates to the treatment or curing of disease.

The court stayed the FDA's approval of mifepristone, but stayed the effectiveness of its order for 7 days so the government can appeal to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals for emergency relief.  President Joe Biden issued a statement (full text) criticizing the court's decision and reporting that the Justice Department has already filed an appeal.  Vice President Kamala Harris also issued a statement (full text) criticizing the decision.

Meanwhile, in State of Washington v. U.S. Food & Drug Administration, (ED WA, April 7, 2023), a Washington federal district court issued a preliminary injunction barring the FDA from "altering the status quo and rights as it relates to the availability of Mifepristone" in the 17 states and District of Columbia that are plaintiffs in the case. Plaintiffs are challenging certain requirements for prescribing mifepristone added in 2023.

Seattle Times reports on the decisions.

Christian Mission Challenges Narrowing of Washington State's Religious Exemption From Employment Non-Discrimination Law

Suit was filed yesterday in a Washington federal district court by a Christian social service agency contending that the Washington Supreme Court's recent interpretation of the state's employment discrimination law violates the First Amendment. The complaint (full text) in Union Gospel Mission of Yakima, Wash. v. Ferguson, (ED WA, filed 3/3/3023) alleges in part:

The Mission’s employees must adhere to certain Christian belief and behavior requirements—including abstaining from any sexual conduct outside of biblical marriage between one man and one woman—in order to properly live out and represent a Christian lifestyle and to not undermine the Mission’s religious message....

The WLAD [Washington Law Against Discrimination] used to protect the Mission by exempting religious nonprofit organizations from its provisions, but the Washington Supreme Court recently gutted the religious employer exemption, reducing it to the “ministerial exception.” See Woods v. Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission, 197 Wash. 2d 231 (2021), cert. denied, 142 S. Ct. 1094 (2022).... 

Post-Woods, Defendant Ferguson has made clear the State’s position that the WLAD now prohibits religious organizations from considering sexual orientation in hiring their non-ministerial employees....

As a result of the judicially re-written WLAD, and Defendants’ enforcement of the WLAD, the Mission now faces significant penalties for using its religiously-based hiring criteria for “non-ministerial” employees.

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

Seattle Becomes First U.S. City To Outlaw Caste Discrimination

Seattle, Washington this week became the first U.S. city to add "caste" discrimination to its anti-discrimination laws. The Ordinance (full text), enacted on Feb. 21, in Section 14.04.030 defines caste as:

a system of rigid social stratification characterized by hereditary status, endogamy, and social barriers sanctioned by custom, law, or religion.

The Ordinance begins with some two-dozen "Whereas" clauses. They assert in part that:

... caste discrimination is based on birth and descent, and occurs in the form of social segregation, physical and psychological abuse, and violence; and

... caste discrimination manifests in employment, education, and housing....

 Time has a lengthy background article on the new legislation.

Suit Says Sheriff's Office Pressures Employees to Join Favored Church

Suit was filed this week in a Washington federal district court by an ex-deputy sheriff who alleges that Chelan County (WA) Sheriff's Office employees pressured him to join the "'alt-right' militant" Grace City Church and to attend its 12-week marriage counseling program. The complaint (full text) in Shepard v. Chelan County, (ED WA, filed 2/14/2023), alleges in part:

Defendant Chelan County Sheriff's Department targeted law enforcement officers who are not Grace City Church members by disciplining, terminating, and denying advancement to them for alleged internal Chelan County Sheriff's Office policy violations by arbitrarily enforcing certain policies against those employees and officers for the same conduct they allow, promote, or engage in themselves.

The suit alleges violation of Title VII, the Washington Law Against Discrimination and the Establishment Clause. NCWLIFE reports on the lawsuit.

9th Circuit Denies En Banc Review of Conversion Therapy Ban

In Tingley v. Ferguson, (9th Cir., Jan. 23, 2023), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied an en banc rehearing of a 3-judge panel's decision rejecting free speech, free exercise and vagueness challenges to Washington state's ban on practicing conversion therapy on minors. Judge O’Scannlain, joined by Judges Ikuta, R. Nelson and VanDyke, filed an opinion dissenting from the denial of en banc review, saying in pat:

Our decision in Pickup [v. Brown] is, I suggest, no longer viable. While Pickup may have seen no distinction between “treatments … implemented through speech” and those implemented “through scalpel,” ... the First Amendment recognizes the obvious difference, and protects therapeutic speech in a way it does not protect physical medical procedures....

[T]he panel majority here entirely ignored the First Amendment’s special solicitude for religious speech. Instead, it commended Washington for concluding “that health care providers should not be able to treat a child by such means as telling him that he is ‘the abomination we had heard about in Sunday school’.”...

Judge Bumatay also filed an opinion dissenting from the denial of review, saying in part:

[W]e also cannot ignore that conversion therapy is often grounded in religious faith. According to plaintiff Brian Tingley, a therapist licensed by the State of Washington, his practice of conversion therapy is an outgrowth of his religious beliefs and his understanding of Christian teachings....

Because the speech underpinning conversion therapy is overwhelmingly—if not exclusively—religious, we should have granted Tingley’s petition for en banc review to evaluate his Free Speech claim under a more exacting standard. It may well be the case that, even under heightened review, Washington’s interest in protecting minors would overcome Tingley’s Free Speech challenge. But our court plainly errs by subjecting the Washington law to mere rational-basis scrutiny. 

State Religious Discrimination Claims Against Airline Union Are Pre-empted By Federal Law

In Brown v. Alaska Airlines, Inc., (WD WA, Nov. 23, 2022), a Washington federal district court dismissed state-law religious discrimination claims brought against the flight attendants' union by two of its members.  Alaska Airlines fired plaintiffs because they posted comments on the company's internal intranet opposing the Airline's support for a federal statute that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal anti-discrimination laws. Plaintiffs claimed their comments were grounded in their religious beliefs. The Union unsuccessfully represented the flight attendants at a hearing appealing their termination.  Plaintiffs then sued claiming not only that Alaska Airlines discriminated against them because of their Christian faith, but that the Union did not defend them as vigorously as it defends other flight attendants because of the flight attendants' religious beliefs. The court dismissed the flight attendants' claims against the Union that were brought under Washington and Oregon anti-discrimination laws.  It concluded that that the "duty of fair representation" stemming from provisions of the federal Railway Labor Act pre-empts claims brought under state anti-discrimination laws where the charge is that a union did not adequately represent an employee in the grievance process.

Football Coach Sues After Being Fired for Religious Refusal of Covid Vaccine

Suit was filed last week by the former head football coach for Washington State University who was fired after refusing on religious grounds to comply with the state's Covid vaccine mandate for state employees. The Athletic Department refused to grant him a religious accommodation, questioning the sincerity of his religious objections as well as the University's ability to accommodate his objections. The complaint (full text) in Rolovich v. Washington State University, (WA Super. Ct., filed 11/14/2022), alleges that the coach's firing amounts to religious discrimination in violation of state and federal law and infringement of plaintiff's free exercise and due process rights. Campus Reform reports on the lawsuit.