Seattle Pacific University strikes out again in First Amendment suit against AG

(CN) — A federal judge dismissed on Friday Seattle Pacific University’s First Amendment lawsuit against the Washington state attorney general over an investigation into the Christian university’s purportedly homophobic hiring practices.

Senior U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein in Seattle granted Attorney General Nicholas Brown’s request for summary judgment because, she said, his office had disclaimed any intent to enforce the Washington Law Against Discrimination against the university after the investigation found that there was no operative employment policy that violated the law.

“The court has considered the evidence placed before it, which shows that the university has not taken actions in accordance with its lifestyle expectations policy that resulted in violations of the WLAD,” Rothstein, a Jimmy Carter appointee, said. “The possibility of future violations is speculative.”

Attorneys for the university didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment late Friday.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal last year had sent the case back to the federal court after finding that the previous judge presiding over the lawsuit had dismissed it prematurely.

The lawsuit, which Seattle Pacific filed in July 2022, sought to prevent then-Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office from continuing an investigation into the school’s hiring practices after student and staff protests drew national attention when the university’s board of trustees voted to keep a policy that prohibits staff from engaging in same-sex intercourse and marriage.

The May 2022 vote came after a period of upheaval at the private Christian university: A faculty applicant had sued the school claiming sexual orientation discrimination, students and faculty called on the school to drop its positions on human sexuality — even taking a vote of no confidence in the board — and a working group of faculty, students and trustees recommended the changes that were ultimately rejected.

According to the university, this prompted a group of students to ask Ferguson to take legal action against the school and its board. Ferguson then sent a letter demanding “prompt production of voluminous and sensitive internal information on the university’s religious policies and their application to any and all faculty, staff, and administrators,” the school said in its complaint.

Ferguson’s investigation specifically sought to determine whether the university’s employment policies discriminate based on sexual orientation in violation of the Washington Law Against Discrimination. His office requested five years of information regarding the school’s internal religious matters, hiring practices, communication between ministerial employees and the selection of the school leadership positions.

Seattle Pacific argued the investigation violated its First Amendment rights by interfering with its relationship with the Free Methodist Church, which established the school in 1891. The school’s claims also included First Amendment retaliation, interference with church autonomy and other violations of the free exercise and establishment clauses of the First Amendment — ultimately seeking a constitutional green light to make its hiring and doctrine decisions without state intervention.

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