Christian mission wins right to keep religious hiring exemption

(CN) — A Washington church will remain free to require that its employees live out its Christian values after a Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday rejected the state’s attempt to enforce its anti-discrimination law.

“Washington cannot override the First Amendment’s church autonomy doctrine, and so the district court’s injunction must be affirmed,” U.S. Circuit Judge Patrick Bumatay, a Donald Trump appointee, wrote on behalf of the panel.

The Union Gospel Mission of Yakima sued then-Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson and other state representatives in 2023, arguing its First Amendment rights were violated under the Washington Law Against Discrimination. The law prevents religious employers from exclusively hiring employees of a certain faith for nonministerial positions.

The federal court initially dismissed the suit; however, the Ninth Circuit revived it last year and remanded it. The lower court judge then enjoined the state from enforcing its antidiscrimination law against the Yakima mission, prompting Washington to return to the Ninth Circuit.

Now, the Ninth Circuit has again ruled in the Yakima mission’s favor.

The Yakima mission operates a homeless shelter, faith-based recovery programs, health clinics and meal services.

The Yakima mission maintains that all its employees, whether in a ministerial position or not, must agree to and live out its Christian beliefs and practices, which include abstaining from “sexual immorality, including adultery, non-married cohabitation, and homosexual conduct.”

The state argued the Yakima mission lacked standing to obtain an injunction in the first place based on the state’s promise not to enforce the antidiscrimination law against the church for its hiring of an IT technician, but the Ninth Circuit found that argument fell flat.

“While we may take the state at its word that it won’t sue Union Gospel for hiring its IT and operations support roles, the state has not confirmed what it will do if Union Gospel seeks to fill its cashiers, cooks, or nurses roles with members of its religion,” Bumatay wrote. “So the state’s disavowal does not grant Union Gospel the relief it seeks.”

Moreover, the Ninth Circuit agreed with the lower court that the Yakima mission had demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits. In finding in favor of the Yakima mission, Bumatay noted the decision was a narrow ruling, one that is limited to religious organizations rather than businesses run by religious institutions.

The Ninth Circuit relied on the church autonomy doctrine within the First Amendment’s religion clauses, which limits government interference in a religious institution’s internal decisions in matters of faith and doctrine — broader than the ministerial exception.

The court ruled that determining who can hold nonministerial roles within a religious organization may also involve matters of religious faith and doctrine.

“For example, religious organizations may rely on their nonministerial personnel to advance their religious mission and message,” Bumatay wrote.

The Yakima mission insisted that hiring only co-religionists for its nonministerial roles is necessary to support its mission and foster a community and support system for its outward-facing ministry. The Yakima mission maintained that its employment policy shields both employees and the public from what it views as sinful habits and behaviors.

“Indeed, if a religious organization were forced to hire those who flout and disregard its religious beliefs, it may forgo engagement with the public in the first place,” Bumatay wrote.

Interfering with the faith and doctrine of a religious institution would then violate its rights under the First Amendment to shape its own faith and mission.

“And if the institution were forced to disregard or alter its religious mission to satisfy secular law, that could limit or remove its mission from the public sphere altogether,” Bumatay wrote. “And so, in some cases, we may permit ‘a religious organization … to condition employment,’ even nonministerial employment, ‘on subscription to particular religious tenets.’”

The Ninth Circuit acknowledged that the hiring of nonministerial positions isn’t necessarily a religious matter, and therefore, the church autonomy doctrine only protects such a co-religionist hiring policy for those positions if the religious institution can show the employment decision was rooted in a sincerely held religious belief.

The church autonomy doctrine encompasses more than only the ministerial exception, as it forbids interference with internal decisions touching on faith and mission, Bumatay wrote.

“If a religious organization’s hiring of co-religionists for nonministerial positions rests on its sincerely held religious beliefs, then the church autonomy doctrine forbids government interference with that hiring decision,” Bumatay wrote. “And recognizing the limits of employment law breaks no new ground.”

Jeremiah Galus, an attorney with the Alliance for Defending Freedom representing the Yakima mission, celebrated the Ninth Circuit’s decision, saying the court “correctly ruled that the First Amendment protects the mission’s freedom to hire fellow believers who share that calling.”

“Religious organizations shouldn’t be punished for exercising their constitutionally protected freedom to hire employees who are aligned with and live out their shared religious beliefs,” Galus said in an emailed statement. “Yakima Union Gospel Mission exists to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ through its homeless shelter, addiction-recovery programs, outreach efforts, meal services, and health clinics.”

The Ninth Circuit panel also included fellow Trump appointee U.S. Circuit Judge Daniel Bress and U.S. Circuit Judge Johnnie B. Rawlinson, a Bill Clinton appointee.

The Washington Attorney General’s Office declined to comment.