World Vision, the Christian
humanitarian organization, can fire employees who disagree with its theological
tenets, a federal appeals court ruled Aug. 23.
In a 2-1 decision, the 9th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that World Vision is a “religious
corporation” and therefore exempt from a federal law that bars faith-based
discrimination.
“I am satisfied that World
Vision has met its burden of showing that the ‘general picture’ of the
organization is `primarily religious,”’ wrote Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain. “World
Vision is a nonprofit organization whose humanitarian relief efforts flow from
a profound sense of religious mission.”’
Three employees, two of whom
had worked at World Vision for 10 years, were fired in 2006 because they did
not believe in the divinity of Jesus or the doctrine of the Trinity, O’Scannlain
wrote.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars religious discrimination, but carves
out an exemption for companies engaged in a religious purpose, the court ruled.
Judge Marsha S. Berzon
dissented from the majority opinion, saying Congress did not intend to allow
all religiously motivated nonprofits to be exempt from the law.
“That interpretation would
severely tip the balance away from the pluralistic vision Congress incorporated
… toward a society in which employers could self-declare as religious
enclaves from which dissenters can be excluded despite their ability to do the
assigned secular work as well as religiously acceptable employees,” Berzon wrote.
The decision comes as
President Obama is weighing whether the government should help fund religious
charities that refuse to hire people of other faiths. White House officials
have said the Justice Department is studying the matter, and decisions will be
made on a case-by-case basis until a final decision is rendered.
World Vision praised the
Ninth Circuit ruling in a statement. “Our Christian faith has been the
foundation of our work since the organization was established in 1950, and our
hiring policy is vital to the integrity of our mission to serve the poor as
followers of Jesus Christ.”