A federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, has ruled for-profit businesses with sincerely held religious beliefs can be shielded from LGBTQ discrimination claims, carving out exceptions to sexual orientation and gender identity protections previously granted by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Sunday ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor held that Braidwood Management Inc., a Christian health care companies operator in Katy, Texas, can avoid LGBTQ anti-bias protections under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment. The anti-bias protections stem from Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
O’Connor also said religious nonprofits like Keller-based Bear Creek Bible Church can refuse to hire and can fire LGBTQ employees under Title VII’s religious exemptions. Under Title VII, an employer can claim a religious exemption if it can show it is a “religious corporation, association, educational institution, or society.”
Braidwood and Bear Creek sued the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission following the Supreme Court’s 2020 landmark decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga., which held that Title VII applies to LGBTQ workers.
What the Bostock decision failed to define was if and how religious businesses could be exempted from such provisions. Braidwood and Bear Creek sought to solidify Title VII religious exemptions for themselves and “those similarly situated” so that they could make employment decisions based on religious beliefs.
“The Supreme Court didn’t decide the issue of the extent to which businesses that are owned by folks with strong religious beliefs might be exempt from that general rule,” said Scott McElhaney, an attorney in the Dallas office of Jackson Walker LLP. “This opinion from Judge O’Connor is the first ruling on that issue.”
Braidwood employs around 70 people who work at one of three health businesses owned or operated by Stephen Hotze, a physician and conservative activist. Hotze doesn’t allow employees to engage in “homosexual behavior or gender non-conforming conduct of any sort,” according to court filings.
Additionally, Braidwood does not recognize same-sex marriage or extend benefits to an employee’s same-sex partner because Hotze believes it would make him “complicit in sin, violating his sincerely held religious beliefs.”
Bear Creek, a nondenominational church, said it requires its employees to live according to the Bible on matters of sexuality and gender. The church also does not recognize same-sex marriage and denies benefits for any employee’s same-sex partner.
O’Connor’s ruling means both entities can continue those employment practices without fear of LGBTQ discrimination liability.
The judge also decided that policies in the workplace regarding sexual conduct, dress codes and restrooms don’t violate Title VII, but federal law does cover policies regarding “bisexual conduct” and hormone therapies.
Churches have long been exempt from Title VII, McElhaney said, meaning O’Connor’s decision isn’t groundbreaking in that regard.
“The part that will have broader impact is the ruling about religious businesses, those owned by people with strong, sincerely held religious beliefs,” McElhaney said.
Litigation on this issue is likely far from over. O’Connor’s ruling can be appealed to a federal appellate court, a process that could take months or years.
Mitchell Law and Fillmore Law Firm represented Braidwood and Bear Creek. The Justice Department represented the EEOC.
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