Religious Lawsuit Filed - Geneva College
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Religious Lawsuit Filed

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Geneva College along with the Association of Faith-Based Organizations filed suit in federal court on Dec. 15 against the federal government and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for denying them access to Pennsylvania′s employment services due to the school′s religious staffing requirements.

"The lawsuit is yet another demonstration of Geneva College′s commitment to hiring likeminded Christian employees,” said Geneva College President Kenneth A. Smith. “The only way the college can ensure it retains the Christian character with which it was founded is to hire employees who can support the school′s mission of providing a first-class Christian education." 

The federal government provides Pennsylvania funding to offer a host of job-placement and listing services to employers and job seekers. Geneva College is being denied the ability to list positions with these services, including an Internet-based service called "CareerLink," because a governmental “nondiscrimination policy” prohibits the listing of any job staffed on the basis of religion. 

Lawyers with the Christian Legal Society′s Center for Law & Religious Freedom and the Alliance Defense Fund, who are handling the lawsuit for Geneva College, are seeking a court ruling declaring the nondiscrimination policy unconstitutional as applied to religious organizations and an order directing the federal government and the state to permit faith-based groups to post their employment notices on CareerLink.

"The thrust of it is the idea that the First Amendment provides the right of religious employers to hire people that share their religious beliefs. In this case, the state and the federal government are trying to coerce religious employers like Geneva College to forgo that right in order to participate in this job-placement program," said Timothy Tracey, a lawyer for the Center for Law & Religious Freedom.

Geneva College is a private, four-year comprehensive Christian college of the arts, sciences and professional studies. The College is located in Beaver Falls, Pa., and sponsored by the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America.

All media inquiries regarding the case should be directed to Timothy J. Tracey, litigation counsel for the Christian Legal Society′s Center for Law & Religious Freedom.

Dec 19, 2006