Some Good News

With all the bad news coming out of Washington about us and the recent Supreme Court ruling on the  Masterpiece Cakeshop we needs some good news and the Connecticut Supreme Court just gave us some.

One of the blogs that I follow is a Connecticut legal blog and there was this post the other day…

Religious Institutions Do Not Get Immunity from State Anti-Discrimination Laws
Connecticut Employment Law Blog
By Daniel Schwartz
August 13, 2018

And in a decision released last week by the Connecticut Supreme Court, whether or not to grant immunity again plays a pivotal role for religious employers. In its unanimous decision, the court refused to grant outright immunity to a religious institution from an employment discrimination claim.  The case, Trinity Christian School v. CHRO, can be downloaded here.

For religious institutions, the case serves as reminder that while the employment discrimination laws may be more limited in their impact (more on that in a second), seeking “immunity” from such claims is a step too far for the courts.

This is big! Even with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling and the U.S, Department of Justice “Religious Freedom Panel” we might still be protected from religious bigots. I say might because federal law trumps state law and I foresee that this might or another similar case go to the U.S. Supreme Court.