Appeals Court Rules World Vision Shielded From Bias LawSuit
A customer service representative can be central to carrying out a religious organization’s mission in the same way a pastor is, a federal appeals court ruled, shielding the employer from federal nondiscrimination statutes.
World Vision had rescinded a customer service job offer to a woman, Aubry McMahon, after learning she was in a same-sex marriage, and she sued over discrimination.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that World Vision was exempt from the woman’s bias suit, reversing a district judge’s ruling in 2023.
Customer service reps “are World Vision’s ‘voice,’” the court ruled. The three-judge panel, all appointed by Democratic presidents, was unanimous.
The case has implications for how courts handle the tensions between nondiscrimination protections for sexual orientation and religious organizations enforcing certain sexual ethics among their employees.
Many Christian organizations were following the outcome of the World Vision case, with denominations like The Foursquare Church, the Southern Baptist Convention (via the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission), and the Seventh-day Adventists filing briefs in support of World Vision.
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Emily Belz is a staff writer on the news team at Christianity Today.