The Hamilton-Wenham Human Rights Coalition (HWHRC) is committed to challenging systemic injustice, demanding equality, and celebrating diversity.  Because we believe that silence is complicity, we will, at times, speak out against actions that fly in the face of the human rights values we uphold, especially when those actions occur in our local community. Gordon College’s current plan to appeal to the United States Supreme Court and continue its argument that all of its employees are Ministers, so that it can be free to discriminate against them, presents just such an occasion.

Former Social Work Professor Margaret DeWeese-Boyd sued Gordon College in 2017 after she was denied a promotion due, she claims, to her gender and her advocacy for LGBTQ+ students, who are impacted by the current homophobic policies of the college. She has since been terminated, ostensibly for financial reasons. The facts of the case are relatively simple. Professor DeWeese-Boyd was unanimously recommended for promotion by the Faculty Senate of the college, an elected body, but her promotion was denied by then President Michael Lindsay and former Provost Janel Curry. The Faculty Senate was so disturbed by the denial that all members stepped down following this event. While DeWeese-Boyd has claimed the denial of her promotion and subsequent loss of her position resulted from her advocacy at the college, Gordon has claimed her promotion was denied due to academic qualifications, a claim which is invalidated by the Faculty Senate’s recommendation. Regardless, Gordon has now claimed unsuccessfully, both in Superior Court and in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, that, even if it did discriminate, it is allowed to do so based on the fact that, it claims, Professor DeWeese-Boyd is a Minister.

In the wake of a very public controversy over homophobic policies, with which many staff expressed their disagreement, and another professor’s lawsuit over Gordon’s punitive action against her, the college added language stating that its faculty are Ministers into the Faculty Handbook in 2016, long after Professor DeWeese-Boyd was hired. Faculty were not informed of this addition, and many objected vociferously when it became known in a Faculty meeting in 2017. Minutes from this meeting include that the college’s lawyer, Meirwyn Walters, of WaltersLacey LLP, added the language in order to “protect our First Amendment rights,” following a national playbook of sorts which encourages religious institutions to avoid discrimination lawsuits in this manner.

The ministerial exception has been recognized by the United States Supreme Court for the purpose of protecting a religious institution from interference by the civil government. While we agree that houses of worship may need the freedom to be selective regarding the religious beliefs of their Ministers, the HWHRC does not agree that these institutions should be able to discriminate against employees based on gender, race, national origin, ability, or other factors, though this is allowed under current laws. Gordon College, however, takes this argument even further, arguing that it can designate the entirety of its employees Ministers and, therefore, discriminate against any of them for any reason, leaving the employees without legal recourse. In somewhat similar recent cases, religious schools have fired employees due to advancing age or their need to miss work for chemotherapy. Gordon would use this expanded freedom to make unhindered adverse employment decisions; if successful, ultimately impacting employees of any institution of faith, including businesses and hospitals. This legal overreach by the largest employer in the town of Wenham, MA has a profound impact on many of our neighbors’ lives and the broader community. A Supreme Court ruling in their favor would unduly harm countless citizens across the nation.

The HWHRC believes that this stance taken by Gordon is misguided at best and deeply offensive and abusive at worst. Gordon has invested considerable funds to advance its cause, and, even after losing the argument in Massachusetts’ highest court, continues to fight for the ability to discriminate, preparing to take its argument to the highest court in the country. While we recognize the value in keeping government from interfering in religious affairs, allowing Gordon College, Catholic hospitals, and other institutions to designate all of their employees as Ministers, and then claim the freedom to discriminate at will, would be an egregious violation of human rights and extremely worthy of all of our concern, both at the local and national level. As members of the same community, we plead with the College and its new President to be good neighbors and to drop this appeal.