Click here to view original article news.bloomberglaw.com
An entrance to Seattle Pacific University in displayed. University says AG probe violates First Amendment rights Appeals ruling that it lacked standing, suit intruded on state The Ninth Circuit on Thursday will explore what may be the next frontier in the workplace clash between religious and LGBTQ+ rights when it hears Seattle Pacific University’s bid to shut down an investigation by the Washington attorney general’s office. The school, which is associated with the evangelical Protestant Free Methodist Church, sued after receiving a letter from Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) seeking information pertaining to its employees and hiring practices to determine whether it’s meeting its obligations under state anti-discrimination law. The probe violated—or risks violating—its First Amendment right to employ only coreligionists because, under state anti-bias law as reinterpreted by the Washington Supreme Court in 2021 , religious freedom in hiring is seen by the AG as limited to just “ministers,” Seattle Pacific said in its opening brief . An attorney for Seattle Pacific says the right of religious organizations to pursue their religious mission is at stake, but civil rights advocates see the lawsuit as part of a push by conservative religious groups to gain freedoms from anti-discrimination laws […]