OKLAHOMA CITY – Attorney General Gentner Drummond is standing up for religious organizations’ rights to make their own employment decisions. He joined 19 other state attorneys general to file an amicus brief that could impact how religious organizations hire employees.
The case involves an entity in Washington state fighting for the right to ensure all its employees align with its religious mission. The attorneys general argue that Union Gospel Mission should have broad authority to choose employees who support its core beliefs. The brief, filed with the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, asks the court to support an earlier district court decision that protects the mission’s ability to make hiring choices based on religious principles.
“Religious organizations must have the freedom to make hiring decisions that preserve their core mission and beliefs,” Drummond said. “This case is about protecting the fundamental right of faith-based organizations to maintain their spiritual integrity through their workforce choices.”
The brief argues that religious organizations should be able to hire people who reflect the organization’s beliefs — even for roles that aren’t directly religious — covering the organization’s entire workforce.
“The Mission’s hiring policy is a quintessential matter of church government. Allowing Washington’s antidiscrimination law to regulate those decisions ‘would impermissibly inject … [the] government into [decisions on] religious doctrine and governance,’” the attorneys general wrote.
Attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia also joined the brief.
