Religious School’s Beef With State AG Tests Coreligionist Policy

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 ...