Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen is leading a coalition of 20 attorneys general in defending a religious organization’s right to make employment decisions based on religious beliefs in the case of Union Gospel Mission of Yakima Washington v. Robert Ferguson.
Knudsen argues that Union Gospel Mission, a nonprofit religious group, must have the authority to hire employees who align with its religious mission, rather than being restricted to hiring policies that only apply to ministerial roles. He contends that the Washington Supreme Court and Washington Attorney General Robert Ferguson have wrongly narrowed the religious exemption under the state’s anti-discrimination law.
In an amicus brief filed Monday, Knudsen and the coalition urged the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a preliminary injunction against Washington’s application of its anti-discrimination law to the Mission. The brief argues that the church autonomy doctrine protects the Mission’s right to make faith-based hiring decisions, extending beyond just ministers to all employees necessary for carrying out its religious purpose.
“The Mission’s hiring policy is a quintessential matter of church government,” Knudsen wrote. “Allowing Washington’s anti-discrimination law to regulate those decisions would impermissibly inject the government into religious doctrine and governance.”
Attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia joined Knudsen in filing the brief.
By: DNU staff