OAKLAND, Calif. — California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a coalition of 14 attorneys general are urging a federal appeals court to restore protections against workplace discrimination, warning that weakening such laws exposes residents to significant mental, physical and financial harm.
In a press release published today by the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, Bonta, alongside a coalition of 14 attorneys, took immediate action to support crackdowns on employment discrimination in the workplace.
An amicus brief in Union Gospel of Yakima, Washington v. Brown, Armstrong, et al. was filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit yesterday, supporting a petition to reverse the Ninth Circuit’s ruling, en banc, that strikes down a Washington state law banning employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Bonta and the coalition argue that the Ninth Circuit’s ruling causes psychological and physical harm to residents by allowing states to violate residents’ First Amendment right to expression.
“These laws can and have protected employees and job seekers without violating or devaluing Americans’ constitutional right to practice religion […] We will continue to uphold and safeguard legal protections against employment discrimination, both in California and nationwide,” Bonta said.
The brief touches on many crucial points in support of the motion to rehear Washington state’s ruling, arguing that secular authorities in workplaces overstep their boundaries when they are shielded from scrutiny.
“To allow religious employers to flout employment discrimination laws to the extent of the panel’s decision would strip many thousands of workers of the most basic job protections,” the coalition states.
Firstly, the brief notes that there is no legal precedent that supports religious institutions’ right to hire based on faith.
Because the autonomy doctrine is “coextensive with the ministerial exception,” it encompasses a broader First Amendment doctrine on religious institutions’ autonomy.
Secondly, in the employer-employee context, the Supreme Court has not branched an exception shielding governmental scrutiny from a religious organization’s ability to “fill key roles.”
Congress has documented that discrimination leads to humiliation and severe mental, physical and economic strains on workers and the marketplace, often leading to a loss of reputation and career.
Demonstrative grave harm “deprives an affected employee or applicant of her livelihood and harm[s] her sense of self-worth,” Harris Funeral, 884 F.3d at 592.
According to the brief, statistics conducted on Glassdoor present that more than 60% of American workers report they have experienced or witnessed workplace discrimination based on race, age, gender or LGBTQ+ status, CBS News reporter Khristopher Brooks reports.
In March 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington assisted the homeless shelter Yakima Union Gospel Mission, also known as Union Gospel, in filing a lawsuit against the Washington State attorney general and the Washington State Human Rights Commission.
The lawsuit alleged that the organization Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD), which follows a state law that “protects all people in Washington from unfair and discriminatory practices in employment […] and state employee whistleblower complaints,” violated Union Gospel’s rights under the First Amendment of the Constitution through the prevention of selectively hiring individuals who shared the same religion for non-ministerial positions.
The Washington District Court granted Union Gospel’s motion for a preliminary injunction to continue selective hiring through faith-based practices.
However, in January 2026, Washington state appealed the district court’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which affirmed the district court’s ruling.
Union Gospel v. Brown, Armstrong, et al. was therefore granted en banc reconsideration to review the ruling and protect residents from harm that could increase as the state’s ability to enforce anti-discrimination laws wanes.
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