Friend:

I’m filling in for Rachel while she’s out this week celebrating a family milestone, and I’m proud to report on two important developments: President Biden ended another harmful anti-LGBTQ policy from the Trump years, and AU’s legal team took to the courtroom to fight religion-based employment discrimination against a teacher in Colorado.

On Tuesday, AU was in federal appeals court arguing on behalf of Gregg Tucker, who was fired for trying to address pervasive racism at the private religious school in Colorado where he worked as a teacher and director of student life.

After Gregg and his wife adopted a daughter, who is Black, from the Dominican Republic, some students began using racial slurs against Gregg and his family – actions that were part of a much larger and more pervasive problem. White students dressed in Ku Klux Klan hoods, staged mock executions of students of color, posted racist, white supremacist commentary on social media, and called their Black, Hispanic and Asian peers racial slurs.

Gregg tried to address the racism by holding a symposium for students, which was backed by the administration. But when a small group of parents complained and demanded Gregg be fired, the school acquiesced to them. Gregg was stripped of his responsibilities as director of student life. And he was later fired.

To protect his civil rights, Gregg sued the school – but to avoid responsibility for their actions, the school is now misusing religious freedom by invoking the “ministerial exception” as a defense for violating Gregg’s rights.

Gregory Tucker v. Faith Bible Chapel International illustrates a dangerous trend of religious employers trying to misuse religious freedom to license discrimination. AU’s Litigation Counsel Bradley Girard said, “The ministerial exception was meant to ensure that houses of worship could freely choose their clergy; it was never intended to be a free pass for any religious employer to discriminate against its entire workforce and sidestep civil-rights laws.”

You can read more about AU’s involvement here. We are committed to fighting any and all discrimination that misuses religious freedom as justification to harm others. This case is part of that mission, thanks in large part to the generous support and commitment that you bring to our work. Thanks for being with us.

Sincerely,