A gavel and block are seen in this illustration photo. (CNS photo/Andrew Kelly, Reuters) BALTIMORE (CNS) — A U.S. District Court judge in Maryland has ruled that Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops’ overseas relief and development agency, must offer health care coverage to the spouses of gay employees as long as the employees’ jobs are nonreligious in nature. In its court filing, the Baltimore-based Catholic agency asked the judge to issue a summary judgment in its favor or dismiss the case altogether, saying religious exemptions provided in federal and state law “foreclose (the) plaintiff’s discrimination claims.” CRS “is a religious organization” and the plaintiff — a data analyst identified only as “John Doe” in court documents — “is involved in its activities,” it said. “The plaintiff’s claims “are incompatible” with the “fundamental right of religious freedom,” the CRS filing stated, citing a religious exemption for organizations in Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. The agency’s filing also pointed to the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, and two state laws: the Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act and the Maryland Equal Pay for Equal Act, which “proscribes sex discrimination but not sexual orientation discrimination” […]
