U.S. Pastor Council v. City Of Austin et al

Filing 1

COMPLAINT ( Filing fee $ 400 receipt number 0542-11314400), filed by U.S. Pastor Council. (Attachments: #1 Exhibit, #2 Exhibit, #3 Exhibit, #4 Exhibit, #5 Exhibit, #6 Exhibit, #7 Exhibit, #8 Civil Cover Sheet)(Mitchell, Jonathan)

June 12, 2018
Honorable Steve Adler
Mayor, City of Austin
City Hall
301 West 2nd Street
2nd Floor
Austin, Texas 78701
Re: Notice of substantial burden on the free exercise of religion
Dear Mayor Adler:
We write to inform you that the city of Austin’s anti-discrimination ordinance
substantially burdens the free exercise of religion, in violation of the Texas Religious
Freedom Restoration Act. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 110.001–.012. Your
ordinance violates state law because it fails to protect the autonomy and religious
freedom of churches, nonprofits, and businesses that hold sincere religious
objections to homosexuality, transgender behavior, and women serving as clergy.
We write not only on behalf of ourselves and our organizations, but on behalf of all
churches, nonprofits, and businesses that object to these lifestyles and behaviors.
Your ordinance prohibits employers and places of public accommodation from
discriminating on account of “race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender
identity, national origin, age, or disability.” See Austin City Code § 5-2-4; 5-3-4.
But the ordinance provides no exemptions or accommodations for churches,
nonprofits, and businesses that hold sincere religious objections to homosexuality,
transgender behavior, or women serving as clergy.
The only religious exemptions to the ban on employment discrimination appear in
sections 5-3-15(B) and 5-3-15(C). These exemptions allow religious schools and
other religious entities to “hire and employ employees of a particular religion” in
certain circumstances. But the ordinance provides no exemption whatsoever to the
ban on sex discrimination. Nor does it provide any exemption for religious entities
that oppose homosexuality or transgender behavior for sincere religious reasons.
This means that every Catholic parish that refuses to hire women as priests is in
violation of city law. So are the churches that refuse to hire homosexuals as clergy.
The ban on public-accommodation discrimination also fails to make allowances for
Christian businesses that refuse to participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies. The
only exceptions to the public-accommodations anti-discrimination rule are for
“facilit[ies] owned or operated by the federal, state, or county government, or the

University of Texas,” as well as “private club[s] or other establishment[s] not open
to the public.” See Austin City Code § 5-2-13.
These are the stingiest religious exemptions we have ever seen in an antidiscrimination law. It is inexcusable that you would purport to subject a church’s
hiring decisions to your city’s antidiscrimination ordinance. It is also unacceptable
that your ordinance makes no allowance for Christian non-profits that refuse to hire
individuals whose lifestyles are incompatible with Christian teaching, or businesses
whose religious convictions forbid them to lend support to same-sex marriage
ceremonies.
Your ordinance substantially burdens the religious freedom of the U.S. Pastor
Council, which has member churches in Austin. And your ordinance substantially
burdens the religious freedom of every church, nonprofit, and business in Austin
that holds sincere religious objections to homosexuality, transgender behavior, and
women serving as clergy.
The Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act requires us to notify you of these
substantial burdens on the free exercise of religion before bringing suit. See Tex.
Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 110.006. We look forward to working with you and city
officials to ensure that the city respects the religious freedom of everyone, consistent
with the requirements of the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Sincerely,

Reverend David Welch
President, U.S. Pastor Council
P.O. Box 692207
Houston, Texas 77269

cc:

Sareta Davis, chair, Austin Human Rights Commission
Anne Morgan, City Attorney of Austin