FREDERICKSBURG — A couple living in the Evergreens at Smith Run in Fredericksburg is suing the senior-living facility, claiming it violated their religious freedom rights. Attorneys for Ken and Liv Hauge argue in federal court filings that the couple was not allowed to hold Bible studies, that staff prohibited the couple and other residents from saying grace during meals and that some residents harassed the couple and others who took part in religious studies or gatherings. The civil suit was filed by the Texas-based First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit that seeks to protect religious freedom rights, and attorneys for the Hunton Andrews Kurth law firm in Richmond in Virginia’s Eastern U.S. District Court. Ken Hauge is an 86-year-old former Lutheran minister and Liv Hauge, 85, retired as a music director at one of the churches where her husband was minister, according to the lawsuit. The First Liberty Institute had threatened a lawsuit last August, claiming the couple had been threatened with eviction. The lawsuit says the couple “seeks to vindicate” their rights “to practice their religions in their own homes and community areas … as guaranteed by the federal Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) and Virginia Fair Housing Law.” The […]
