YAKIMA — Yakima Union Gospel Mission’s lawsuit against the state over its faith-based hiring practices has been revived.
A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that U.S. District Court Judge Mary Dimke erred when she dismissed the mission’s suit challenging a change in the state’s anti-discrimination law that would affect the mission’s hiring people in non-ministerial positions.
The panel sent the case back to District Court to determine whether the mission’s claims were ready for consideration in court, as well as the mission’s request for an injunction blocking the state from enforcing the Washington Law Against Discrimination against the Yakima-based organization.
The anti-discrimination law prohibits employers from discriminating against employees or job candidates based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion and other factors. It allows an exemption for faith-based organizations that require employees to adhere to the group’s religious teachings.
The mission, which operates a homeless shelter at 1300 N. State St. along with a medical and dental clinic and thrift stores, requires its employees to follow Christian beliefs, including prohibitions on sex outside marriage and defining marriage as being between one man and one woman.
In a 2021 ruling in a case filed against Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission, the state Supreme Court narrowed WLAD’s religious exemption to ministerial employees.
The Yakima mission filed suit against state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, as well as the executive director and members of the state’s Human Rights Commission, to block enforcement of the law as outlined in the 2021 ruling. Even though the state was not investigating the mission, the mission said responses to its job posts online and the potential threat of legal action were keeping the organization from hiring someone to handle its computer system.
The mission was supported in the lawsuit by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian organization based in Arizona.
The suit was prompted by the attorney general’s investigation into the hiring practices at Seattle Pacific University, which required similar religious standards for its employees.
Dimke dismissed the mission’s lawsuit, calling it a veiled attempt to appeal the state court’s ruling. She also found the mission lacked standing to file the case as it had not been injured or had cause to seek redress.
9th Circuit ruling
In its ruling, the 9th Circuit panel, which consisted of judges appointed by Presidents George W. Bush, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, disagreed, finding that the mission’s hiring practices could be affected by the law should the state pursue action. The panel also found the mission intended to take actions that would violate the law, giving it the right to file a lawsuit.
The court found that the anti-discrimination law had forced the mission to self-censor, only posting job openings on its own website.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 denied review of the Seattle Union Gospel Mission decision, but Justice Samuel Alito said it was likely the court will decide at at some point whether First Amendment protects religious organizations’ freedom to hire co-religionists without state or judicial interference.
A challenge to the law by Seattle Pacific University is pending in federal court. The appellate panel said that since SPU’s claims were considered redressable in court, Dimke erred in finding the Yakima mission had no claim to seek redress.
The panel ordered the district court to re-examine the issue of whether the mission’s allegations had advanced to the point where it could be considered by the court, as well as whether the state should be restricted from enforcing the anti-discrimination law.
“The 9th Circuit rightly overturned the lower court’s dismissal, permitting the ministry to pursue protection for its constitutional rights in federal court,” Ryan Tucker, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, said in a Thursday news release.
