Religious charities, schools in Virginia can require employees to align with their beliefs: ADF

The state of Virginia will allow religious organizations to hire only workers who adhere to the groups’ beliefs as part of a settlement of a 2020 lawsuit, according to a Christian legal advocacy group.

Alliance Defending Freedom said religious groups in Virginia also are exempt from paying for or facilitating gender transition treatments that violate their teachings.

ADF represented two churches, three Christian schools and a network of pregnancy centers that sued the commonwealth and then-Attorney General Mark Herring in September 2020 after the Virginia Values Act was enacted.

The law directed religious institutions to hire employees who did not share their beliefs or face fines of up to $100,000 per violation, according to the lawsuit. A companion measure required ministries to include gender-affirming surgeries and sex reassignment care in their employee health plans.

Mr. Herring left office in 2022, but the lawsuit continued using the name of the current attorney general, Jason Miyares — Calvary Road Baptist Church v. Miyares.

The Supreme Court of Virginia last year changed the dynamics of the case, ADF attorneys said. The court ruled that the state “may not substantially burden the exercise of religion” in the case of a high school teacher who was fired for refusing to use the preferred pronouns of a transgender student, citing religious freedom.

That decision paved the way for a settlement, the attorneys said.

“Religious organizations are free to operate their ministries without fear of government punishment, and Virginia’s law protects that foundational right,” ADF senior counsel Kevin Theriot said in a statement. “Our clients are motivated by their faith to offer spiritual guidance, education, pregnancy support, and athletic opportunities to their communities. The commonwealth must respect their right — just like anyone else’s — to continue operating by their own internal policies and codes of conduct about life, marriage, and sexuality.”

Through a spokeswoman, Mr. Theriot said “the settlement reflects the [attorney general’s] interpretation of the statutes as applied to all ministries that are similar to the plaintiffs” and he believes the broad language in the settlement would apply to similar religious organizations.

Miyares spokeswoman Victoria LaCivita told The Washington Times via email: “The Attorney General is pleased that we were able to reach a settlement agreement that preserves the constitutional enforcement authority of the Attorney General and provides justice for the plaintiffs.”