CompassCare v. Hochul

Overview

(2nd Cir., January 2, 2025): The Second Circuit Court of Appeals revived one claim made by religious employers and related crisis pregnancy centers who challenged a New York law that prohibits employment discrimination or retaliation based on employees’ reproductive health decision-making. The employers alleged the statute violates various First Amendment rights, including free speech, free exercise, religious autonomy, and expressive association; the district court dismissed all claims. On appeal, the Second Circuit revived only the expressive association claim, finding that the statute could violate an employer’s expressive association rights if it requires the employer to hire or retain individuals who act or have acted against the employer’s core mission. This decision remands the case to the lower court to determine whether any of the plaintiff-employers can prove that being required to hire or retain individuals who engage in specific reproductive health care threatens the employer’s core mission. Read the full opinion here.

View all cases in the Judicial Trends in Public Health – February 18, 2025.

View all cases under “Constitutional Rights and the Public’s Health.”