California AG backs Washington State bid to restore strength of anti-discrimination law
Sacramento, California – California Attorney General Rob Bonta is one of a group of 14 attorneys general that is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to change its mind over a decision that makes a Washington state statute less effective at protecting workers from discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Bonta and the coalition filed an amicus brief in favor of Washington State’s request for a rehearing en banc. They say that the Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling is not based on legal precedent and could make it harder for states to implement long-standing anti-discrimination rules.
The Washington Law Against Discrimination is at the the core of the lawsuit. It says that companies can’t treat workers differently because of their sexual orientation.
“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.”
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The dispute started in March 2023, when the Yakima Union Gospel Mission, a homeless shelter, sued the Washington State Human Rights Commission and the attorney general of Washington in federal court. The group said that the state’s anti-discrimination legislation violated its First Amendment rights because it stopped it from limiting some non-ministerial posts to those who share its beliefs.
The shelter was given a temporary injunction by a federal district court in eastern Washington. This meant that it could keep hiring people while the case was going on. Washington State appealed, but a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit confirmed the lower court’s decision in January 2026.
Since then, Washington has requested the whole Ninth Circuit to look at the decision again. Bonta and the alliance say in their brief that there is no legal foundation for broadening religious hiring exemptions to include jobs that are not for ministers. They also say that discrimination at work hurts people mentally, physically, and financially, and that the panel’s ruling makes it harder for governments to stop those damages.
The brief was filed by Bonta and attorneys general from Massachusetts, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, and Rhode Island.
