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Prior to this injunction, the Yakima Union Gospel Mission could not try to hire other Christians into open positions without running afoul of Washington State’s anti-discrimination law.
[UPDATE] A U.S. District Court has restored the right of Yakima Union Gospel Mission to only hire those who share its religious beliefs while its case proceeds through the courts.
This follows a ruling handed down in August by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that said that Washington’s Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) could be challenged by the Christian homeless ministry.
Late last week, Judge Mary Dimke granted an injunction to Yakima Union Gospel Mission, saying that Washington’s anti-discrimination law, which would require the mission to hire people with opposing beliefs, violates the First Amendment.
She ruled that the law was not neutral towards religious groups. Instead, the state provided exemptions to some small businesses while simultaneously denying exemptions to religious organizations.
Since the law is not neutral or generally applicable, it is subject to strict scrutiny. To pass strict scrutiny, a law must “advance interests of the highest order” and be narrowly tailored to achieve those interests through the least restrictive means possible.
The court noted that as originally enacted, the WLAD exempted religious, charitable, educational, social, or fraternal not-for-profit organizations from its definition of employer; thus, its goals could be achieved through a less restrictive means by simply providing a religious exemption.
The court also found that the law is under-inclusive, meaning that it bans some activities while allowing others that cause the same issue that the law supposedly aims to fix. By providing exemptions to businesses with fewer than eight employees, it was allowing those entities to practice discrimination in hiring even as it was punishing religious nonprofits for adhering to their beliefs.
In her ruling, Dimke wrote, “[Yakima Union Gospel Mission] argues that if it ‘is forced to hire those who do not [share its religious views], or those who do not adhere to those views, it may eventually be extinguished from public life.’ This ‘hamper[ing]’ of [the mission’s] ability to hire staff consistent with its religious beliefs likely ‘constitut[es] an enduring harm that will irreparably risk [the mission’s] continued existence[.]”
Yakima Union Gospel Mission may now fill the many vacant positions it had been forced to leave open with like-minded individuals who share the ministry’s Christian beliefs.
Featuring heavily in the court’s decision was the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in Fellowship of Christian Athletes v. San Jose Unified School District Board of Education, as well as the Supreme Court rulings in Tandon v. Newsom and Kennedy v. Bremerton School District.
Ryan Tucker, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented Yakima Union Gospel Mission, said in a press release that the mission “exists to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ through its homeless shelter, addiction-recovery programs, outreach efforts, meal services, and health clinics” but that it faced penalties for operating according to its beliefs.
“We are pleased the court ruled to protect the ministry’s constitutional rights as this lawsuit proceeds,” he said.
{Published on March 6, 2023} Union Gospel Mission serves the local people through its homeless shelter, addiction-recovery programs, meal services, medical and dental clinics, employment programs, and other community services. It does so due to its religious purpose of spreading the Gospel and showing biblical love to the vulnerable and needy.
To accomplish this mission, it requires all of its employees to be co-religionists. Employees must not only to believe as the mission believes but also adhere to behavior requirements in order to show a Christian example to those they are serving. The behavior requirements include abstaining from any sexual conduct outside a biblical marriage of one man and one woman.
These hiring practices are likely to violate the new interpretation of the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD), which was handed down by the Washington Supreme Court. In that case, Seattle Union Mission, a religious nonprofit, also hired only those employees who shared its beliefs.
The Washington Supreme Court ruled that the religious exemption to WLAD was only a ministerial exemption, or only applies to hiring of employees who are ministers directly responsible for proclaiming an organization’s religious faith. It stated that all other positions must be open to people who do not share the organization’s beliefs.
According to Union Gospel Mission, Washington Attorney General Robert Ferguson has taken the position that this interpretation means that religious organizations are prohibited from evaluating an applicant’s sexual orientation as part of the hiring process. Ferguson began investigating Seattle Pacific University, a Christian university, under the position that its lifestyle expectation policy, which prohibits employees “from engaging in sexual intimacy outside” of a biblical marriage of one man and one woman, discriminated due to sexual orientation. The school filed a lawsuit to stop the investigation, claiming it violated the First Amendment, but a judge in October dismissed the suit.
The Washington Supreme Court’s decision against Seattle Union Mission and the case against Seattle Pacific University led Union Gospel Mission to file a complaint in the United States District Court Eastern District of Washington. Union Gospel Mission claims that the WLAD as applied by the state supreme court discriminates against its right to free exercise of religion and freedom of speech. The mission had posted several job openings but received applications from people who either disagree with or are hostile to the mission’s convictions on marriage and sexuality. Union Gospel Mission has since removed the job postings to avoid a discrimination charge.
Yakima Union Gospel Mission is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which describes itself as “an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.”
ADF Senior Counsel Ryan Tucker, director of the ADF Center for Christian Ministries, said in a statement,
“The First Amendment allows religious organizations the freedom to hire those who share and live out their beliefs without being punished by the government. Yakima Union Gospel Mission now faces substantial penalties under Washington state law for simply engaging in its constitutionally protected freedom to hire fellow believers who share the mission’s calling to spread the gospel and care for vulnerable people in the Yakima community.”
The law as applied violates Union Gospel Mission’s right to religious freedom. It is a religious organization with a religious purpose, and as such, each and every employee is responsible for communicating the faith to those they serve.
It is only logical that the mission would want to only hire people who share its beliefs. It is not known how the district court will rule, but it seems likely that this case could be headed to the Washington Supreme Court where a similar ruling can be expected, especially given their decision against Seattle Union Mission. This could set up a trip to the highest court.
When Seattle Union Mission appealed to have its case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Samuel Alito issued a denial of certiorari, upholding the Court of Appeals’ decision without agreeing or disagreeing because the case had not yet run its full course. Yet Justice Alito, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, also said that the Washington Supreme Court’s decision “may warrant [the U.S. Supreme Court’s] review in the future,” explaining that the Washington Supreme Court’s “decision to narrowly construe [Washington’s] religious exemption” could “have created a conflict with the Federal Constitution.”
A religious organization must be able to operate and hire according to its own beliefs because those who don’t believe the same thing will introduce a competing agenda and, whether intended or not, undermine the organization’s purpose and principles. Galatians 5:7-9 says,
“You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.”
False teachers led the Galatian church to adopt a false, works-based religion in which to be saved Gentiles had to become Jewish and follow the Law. The same is true of any other false teaching.
The employees of Union Gospel Mission are to be ambassadors for Christ to the people they serve. If the people whom they serve see that employees are living a lifestyle inconsistent with the teaching of Christ, they may believe the Gospel isn’t true or that it is acceptable to be a Christian and live in contradiction to the Bible.
These employees could also influence other employees who are following Christ. If the mission is forced to hire people who disagree with its mission, those people are very likely to actively work against its purpose. The right of religious organizations to hire only those who share their religious views must be upheld, and the only way this is likely to happen is if the U.S. Supreme Court steps in and once again affirms the basic rights of religious liberty and free association.
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