Religious organizations in Washington state can exclusively hire employees for nonministerial positions who share the group’s doctrinal and ideological beliefs, a federal court has ruled. 

A church in Washington, the Union Gospel Mission of Yakima, sued Washington in 2023 over the state’s anti-discrimination law that prevents religious organizations from exclusively hiring employees who align with their beliefs for nonministerial positions.

The lawsuit was initially dismissed, but it was revived by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and remanded to a lower court, which enjoined Washington from enforcing its anti-discrimination law. 

This week, a three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of the mission and blocked Washington from enforcing its anti-discrimination law. 

The judge who wrote the opinion, Patrick Bumatay, a Trump appointee, said, “Washington cannot override the First Amendment’s church autonomy doctrine.”

The Supreme Court has recognized a ministerial exception, under the First Amendment, that lets religious organizations make employment decisions for ministers without interference from the government.

The Yakima mission says that it requires all employees — including those in nonministerial positions such as cashiers or IT specialists — to align with its Christian beliefs and practices, including abstaining from “sexual immorality, including adultery, non-married cohabitation, and homosexual conduct.” It argued that the Washington Law Against Discrimination — which prohibits “discrimination” in employment practices based on religion or sexual orientation — violated its First Amendment rights.

Washington sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, arguing that the Yakima mission did not have standing because it promised it would not try to enforce the anti-discrimination law against the mission for its employment decisions for an IT job.

However, the Ninth Circuit said, “While we may take the state at its word that it won’t sue Union Gospel for hiring its IT and operations support roles, the state has not confirmed what it will do if Union Gospel seeks to fill its cashiers, cooks, or nurses roles with members of its religion.”

“So the state’s disavowal does not grant Union Gospel the relief it seeks,” Judge Bumatay said. 

He added that making decisions about nonministerial positions might involve matters of faith, writing, “Religious organizations may rely on their nonministerial personnel to advance their religious mission and message.”

The Yakima mission argued that hiring people who agree with its beliefs helps to promote its mission. Judge Bumatay agreed, writing, “If a religious organization were forced to hire those who flout and disregard its religious beliefs, it may forgo engagement with the public in the first place.”

“And if the institution were forced to disregard or alter its religious mission to satisfy secular law, that could limit or remove its mission from the public sphere altogether,” the jurist said. “In some cases, we may permit ‘a religious organization … to condition employment,’ even nonministerial employment, ‘on subscription to particular religious tenets.’”

The Yakima mission was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom.

A senior counsel for ADF, Jeremiah Gallus, said in a statement, “Religious organizations shouldn’t be punished for exercising their constitutionally protected freedom to hire employees who are aligned with and live out their shared religious beliefs.”

“Yakima Union Gospel Mission exists to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ through its homeless shelter, addiction-recovery programs, outreach efforts, meal services, and health clinics. The 9th Circuit correctly ruled that the First Amendment protects the mission’s freedom to hire fellow believers who share that calling,” Mr. Gallus said.