Judge sides with North Dakota Catholic Diocese, suspends protections

(North Dakota Monitor) – A North Dakota judge on Monday granted a request by the Catholic Diocese of Bismarck and a Catholic employers association to temporarily block the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from enforcing part of its anti-discrimination regulations related to abortion, fertility treatment and LGBTQ workers.

The decision by U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Traynor, which blasts the regulations as “clearly anti-religion,” came less than a week after he heard arguments on the motion in federal court in Bismarck.

“Time and again the First Amendment rights of American citizens has been the subject of litigation (in) federal court,” he wrote in a footnote included in the order. “Organizations must continually sue to keep the federal government from infringing on basic and well-settled rights to freedom of religion.”

The case challenges provisions in two documents recently published by the EEOC: a rule implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, as well as non-binding guidance on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlaws workplace discrimination.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022, requires employers to provide certain workplace accommodations for pregnant and postpartum mothers. The EEOC’s rule executing the act also included protections for people who seek abortions or fertility treatment — which the diocese and Catholic Benefits Association argues was never Congress’ intent.

Since abortion and in-vitro fertilization are against the Catholic Church’s teachings, plaintiffs say the rule also violates their First Amendment rights. The rule doesn’t include a blanket exemption for religious employers, but the EEOC instead says it will handle religious exemption claims on a case-by-case basis.

“We’re living in fear that we’ll go through thousands of enforcement actions,” Andrew Nussbaum, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said during last week’s hearing.

The EEOC’s April guidance, meanwhile, puts employers on notice that harassment based on reproductive health care decisions — including abortion, fertility and contraception — as well as sexual orientation and gender identity could now be considered sex discrimination under Title VII.

This also conflicts with plaintiffs’ beliefs, as the Catholic Church teaches against “abortion, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, gender ideology, ‘transgender affirmation through use of false pronouns,’ and ‘improper access to single sex spaces,’” Traynor notes in his order, quoting from the plaintiffs’ complaint.

The EEOC has said both the rule and the guidance are consistent with previous interpretations of Title VII by the commission and the courts.

Attorneys for the EEOC argued in court last week that the plaintiffs did not have standing to bring the lawsuit, claiming that the diocese and association haven’t demonstrated they are likely to face discrimination claims under the regulations, and that the Catholic Benefits Association does not have the authority to bring the lawsuit on behalf of unidentified members. They also said that the diocese and association are improperly singling out the EEOC when discrimination claims can also be brought under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and Title VII without the federal agency’s involvement.

Traynor found that because employers can face legal consequences for not complying with the regulations, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act rule and the guidance “place a substantial burden” on the plaintiffs’ religious exercise.

He also wrote that the EEOC did not sufficiently establish that the government has a compelling interest in leaving the regulations in place, or that it took adequate care to minimize burdens to religious organizations when writing the rule and guidance.

Under the order, current and future members of the Catholic Benefits Association, including the diocese, will be shielded from enforcement action under the challenged portions of the rule and Title VII while the lawsuit proceeds.

Traynor was appointed to the federal bench by former President Donald Trump. He served on the board for the North Dakota Catholic Conference from 1999-2001, according to a questionnaire for judicial nominees.