Appeals court revives challenge to New York law restricting religious groups’ hiring practices
A federal appeals court has revived the challenge by pro-life groups and a Christian church against a New York statute that they claim prevents employers who are faith-based from taking action against their employees who have abortions.
Three judges on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion on Thursday that sided with CompassCare’s pro-life pregnancy center network, the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates and First Bible Baptist Church against state officials.
New York Labor Law Section 203 e, the relevant section, prohibits employers from discriminating based on a worker’s or dependent’s reproductive decisions.
Judge Thomas McAvoy of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York dismissed the claim from the plaintiffs that the law violated the faith-based employers’ rights to expressive-association under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The 2nd Circuit, however, ruled that this claim was valid and the lawsuit can continue.
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In Slattery V. Hochul, the 2nd Circuit decided in 2023 that the district court had ruled in favor of Evergreen Association. This is a pregnancy center which supports life.
In Slattery the 2nd Circuit overturned a lower court dismissal of an organization’s claim that the law violated their freedom of expression association. It remanded the case to the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of New York, for further proceedings.
In her opinion of Thursday, Judge Sarah Merriam stated that the District Court had not benefited from the Slattery decision — which has now become binding precedent — at the time it issued the orders in question. “In light of Slattery, we vacate the dismissal of Plaintiffs’ expressive-association claim.”
According to the opinion, employers are prohibited from accessing “personal information about an employee’s reproductive health decisions, including, but not limited, to the decision to use, or to access, a specific drug, device, or medical service.” The three plaintiff organizations all require their employees to adhere to statements of faith that denounce abortion. They view employees’ adherence their core beliefs to be central to their missions.
In Slattery the 2nd Circuit found that the plaintiff could have a valid case against the law, if they can prove “[t]he statue forces Evergreen into employing individuals who have or have acted in opposition to the mission of their organization.” This sets a high bar for successful challenges against the law.
Merriam’s Thursday opinion stressed that, “Each plaintiff will have to prove that it meets relevant standards separately and independently from the others – the outcome can therefore be different for different Plaintiffs.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is the legal organization that represents the plaintiffs. They maintain that the law forces employers, including churches, schools, pregnancy centers and religious nonprofits, to undermine their beliefs about abortion, contraception and sexual morality because they are forced to hire those who can’t effectively communicate the groups’ message, as they refuse to abide to the organizations’ core principles and statements of faith.
Kevin Theriot, Senior Counsel at the ADF, released a statement on Thursday to praise this development.
He said: “Our nation has respected religious organizations’ rights to associate with other like-minded believers for many years, and the court decision reinstates our client’s claim that this right protects the employment practices of the groups’ missions.”
Theriot continued, “Religious organizations are free to hire people who share their core convictions. No government can force them to do otherwise.” The 2nd Circuit did the right thing by reviving this case, which allowed our clients to protect their constitutionally protected rights to express themselves and join others without fear of punishment or government coercion.
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