9th Circuit to Rehear Case on Religious Hiring at Yakima Union Gospel Mission

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit agreed to rehear en banc Yakima Union Gospel Mission v. Washington, a case that tests whether the Washington Law Against Discrimination can restrict a religious organization’s hiring practices.

The full court’s vote vacates a three-judge panel ruling that had sided with the mission. U.S. Circuit Judge Patrick Bumatay, who wrote the panel opinion, issued a dissent joined by Judges Lawrence VanDyke and Eric Tung.

The Washington Law Against Discrimination prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and provides a religious exemption only for non-ministerial employees. Yakima Union Gospel Mission argues that the statute unconstitutionally prevents it from limiting IT-department hires to individuals who share its religious beliefs.

A federal district court ruled in favor of the mission before the state appealed.

The three-judge panel upheld that decision. “Hiring based on religious criteria may conflict with laws prohibiting employment decisions based on protected characteristics. Ordinarily, even religious institutions must follow generally applicable employment law,” Bumatay wrote in the panel opinion.

“But if state law were to prevent religious institutions from employing only co-religionists, those institutions could be forced to hire employees who openly flout and disagree with their religious principles,” he added. “This, the First Amendment doesn’t tolerate.

Because who a religious organization hires may go to the very character of its religious mission, the church autonomy doctrine protects the decision to hire co-religionists for nonministerial roles if that decision is based on the organization’s sincerely held religious beliefs,” Bumatay stated.