Ohio State responded to a lawsuit yesterday regarding the constitutionality of its nondiscrimination policy.
The Christian Legal Society filed a lawsuit March 12, after an in-depth review of the OSU chapter threatened to remove its status as a recognized OSU organization. The CLS reportedly violated the university’s nondiscrimination policy in its election process because only formal members are permitted to vote for and fill executive offices for the OSU chapter.
Formal members must sign a Statement of Faith, “indicating that (they hold) certain Christian viewpoints commonly regarded in both the Roman Catholic and Protestant evangelical traditions as orthodox,” according to the CLS complaint.
All OSU faculty, staff and students, as well as any student organizations seeking affiliation with the university, are required to follow OSU’s nondiscrimination policy, which the CLS said violates their rights and freedoms of expression guaranteed by the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
OSU’s Nondiscrimination/Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Policy 1.10, effective October 1973, states, “Discrimination against any individual based upon protected status, which is defined as age, color, disability, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or veteran status, is prohibited.”
In its response, the university denies violating the CLS members’ rights and freedoms, as indicated in the complaint.
“(The university) admits certain aspects (of the complaint) and denies others,” said Steve Aden, chief litigation counsel to the Center of Law and Religious Freedom of the Christian Legal Society. “And they denied that CLS has been deprived of its constitutional rights – all of what we expected.
“But they haven’t asked the court to throw out the lawsuit as utterly lacking in merit. They recognize that there is something to it, and we should take a closer look,” he said.
Since the university has filed its response, the court will have to initiate a preliminary pre-trial conference with the counsel of both parties, said Kathleen Trafford, OSU’s attorney for the case. She said the counsels will meet before the conference to discuss any further issues either party might want addressed.
“Basically, at the pre-trial (conference), the parties will summarize the case and let the court know what legal issues and facts are in dispute,” Trafford said. “The magistrate judge will then set out a schedule for the case and determine the manner in which any disputed issues will be presented to the court, either by written motions and briefs or a hearing of witnesses.”
She said the magistrate judge can set the pre-trial conference anywhere from three to six weeks after the university files its response.
“(We’ll meet) maybe later in June,” she said.
Aden said the CLS will prepare supporting materials in the meantime.
“We look forward to getting sworn statements from potential witnesses and university documents,” Aden said. “We hope that it won’t go to trial, of course, but there’s no guarantee in that.”
OSU continues to recognize the OSU chapter of the CLS, guaranteeing its eligibility for any benefits or funds that other student organizations on campus receive.
