Court upholds firing of workers not following 'personal relationshipwith Jesus'

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Carol Forsloff - Workers have lost their lawsuit
against World Vision whom they claimed discriminated against them on
religious grounds mainly because World Vision is a religion.



The court decided decided  non-profit Christian humanitarian organization World Vision is
exempt from claims of religious discrimination brought by three
employees who say they were fired because they "denied the deity of
Jesus Christ and disavowed the doctrine of the Trinity," the 9th Circuit ruled.

Three individuals claimed the organization fired them because they weren't
the Christians they had originally claimed to be.  At the time of hire
they were asked to sign statements about "their personal relationship
with Jesus."

In doing this all agreed to be in compliance with World Vision's statement
of faith, core values and mission statement, according to the court's
official ruling.  The ruling stated World Vision's exemption from claims
of religious discrimination because it is a religious organization that
operates for that purpose.

"While World Vision is neither owned by nor affiliated with a formally
religious entity in the traditional sense, this does not preclude our
finding that it is a 'primarily religious' organization and thus
eligible" for exemption from discrimination claims, Judge Diarmuid
O'Scannlain wrote for the Seattle-based panel.

Dissenting Judge Marsha Berzon wrote, "If World Vision is right, then it
may refuse to hire, and may fire, on the basis of their religious
beliefs individuals - like the plaintiffs here - whose jobs have no
religious element at all."