(RNS) — A federal appellate court ruled in favor of World Vision, a global Christian relief and development organization, last week, saying it was justified in revoking employment of a customer service representative after it learned the candidate was in a same-sex marriage.
The ruling, filed Tuesday (Aug. 5) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, overturned an earlier decision by a lower court where Aubry McMahon filed a lawsuit arguing World Vision had discriminated against her marital status, sex and sexual orientation.
Initially, the district court ruled in World Vision’s favor, finding that the doctrine of church autonomy “foreclose(d) judicial inquiry into World Vision’s religiously motivated personnel decision.” But the lower court reversed its ruling after McMahon sought reconsideration and determined it could use “neutral principles of law” to conclude the case and not entangle itself in religion. That court also rejected World Vision’s other defenses, including ministerial exception.
But World Vision, which is known for connecting sponsors with children in need around the world, argued to the 9th Circuit that customer service representatives play a significant role in the ministry’s voice, and the higher court reversed the lower court’s decision.
Writing for a three-judge panel, Judge Richard C. Tallman said, “the district court erred by viewing the CSR’s responsibilities in the abstract, isolated from World Vision’s central mission.”
He added, “We now hold that the ministerial exception bars McMahon’s employment discrimination claims because the record shows that CSRs perform key religious functions central to World Vision’s mission.”
World Vision logo. (Courtesy image)
Customer service representatives pray with supporters and donors over the phone and are “responsible for teaching curious donors about World Vision’s Christian faith and mission,” Tallman wrote.
McMahon, an openly gay Christian in a same-sex marriage, became pregnant in mid-June 2020, via a sperm donor, and gave birth in March 2021, the court said. While pregnant, McMahon saw a listing for a remote CSR position on a jobs website. In an interview after applying, according to court records, she was asked if she would follow the organization’s conduct standards and replied, “I’m aligned, yes!”
After being offered the job in early January 2021, McMahon followed up with a request for time off around the arrival of the baby she and her wife were expecting. World Vision then rescinded the job offer days later due to McMahon’s “inability” to follow its standards concerning marriage.
The head of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the appeals court, welcomed the decision.
