Attorney General Bonta Opposes Attack Against State Law Protecting Employees from Discrimination

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta yesterday joined a coalition of 14 attorneys general in submitting an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit supporting a petition for rehearing en banc of a Ninth Circuit panel’s ruling that weakens a Washington State law prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. In the brief, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that the Ninth Circuit’s ruling is unsupported by legal precedent and harms states’ well-founded interests in protecting residents from employment discrimination. 

“Anti-discrimination laws, like those in Washington, allow states to protect their residents from serious mental, physical, and financial harm,” said Attorney General Bonta. “These laws can and have protected employees and job seekers without violating or devaluing Americans’ Constitutional right to practice religion. We will continue to uphold and safeguard legal protections against employment discrimination, both in California and nationwide.”

In March 2023, homeless shelter Yakima Union Gospel Mission (Union Gospel) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington against the Washington State Attorney General and the Washington State Human Rights Commission. The lawsuit alleged that the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) — which prohibits discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation — violates Union Gospel’s rights under the First Amendment of the Constitution by preventing Union Gospel from hiring only people with the same religion for non-ministerial positions. The district court granted Union Gospel’s motion for a preliminary injunction, allowing Union Gospel to continue its faith-based hiring practices. Washington State appealed the district court’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In January 2026, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling. Washington State has filed a motion for a rehearing en banc, asking the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its ruling. 

In yesterday’s amicus brief, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition support Washington State’s motion for a rehearing. In the brief, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that:

• There is no legal precedent that supports expanding religious institutions’ right to hire based on faith to include non-ministerial positions.
• Employment-based discrimination has been demonstrated to cause severe mental, physical, and economic harms to individuals and the broader marketplace. The Ninth Circuit’s decision harms states’ abilities to enforce anti-discrimination laws that protect their residents from such harms.

In filing yesterday’s amicus brief, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Massachusetts, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, and Rhode Island.