Supreme Court declines to hear appeal from Christian fire chief who wanted to make it easier to sue for discrimination

(CNN) — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the appeal of a California fire chief who claimed he lost his job because of his Christian faith, a case that could have made it easier for Americans to win discrimination lawsuits against employers.

Ronald Hittle, a 24-year veteran of the fire department in Stockton, California, said he was fired after attending a two-day Christian conference on city time. The city countered that Hittle had been instructed to attend a “leadership” conference and told the high court in a brief that the chief had a long history of disobeying direction from superiors.

Two conservative justices – Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch – dissented from the decision to deny the case.

Represented in part by the First Liberty Institute, which has filed several successful religious claims at the Supreme Court in recent years, Hittle asked the Supreme Court to toss out a 1973 precedent, McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, that has for decades dictated how discrimination claims are reviewed in federal courts.

Thomas wrote the precedent targeted by the case was “producing troubling outcomes on the ground.”

“I am not aware of many precedents that have caused more confusion than this one,” he added.

Discrimination claims are reviewed under a three-step process under the precedent. First, an employee alleging discrimination must show they belong to a class of people protected under the law — based on race or sex, for instance — and that the company appeared, at first impression, to have engaged in discrimination. In step two, the employer must then show that it had legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for the actions it took against the plaintiff.

In the third step, the burden shifts back to the employee to show that the company’s stated reasons aren’t simply a pretext for discrimination. Hittle asked the court to toss out McDonnell entirely or, alternatively, make it easier for employees to win under the third step.

“The court should take the opportunity to overrule this unworkable and egregiously wrong test without further delay,” Hittle’s attorneys told the Supreme Court. The approach, they said, “has rightly been criticized by judges and scholars alike.”

A federal district court in California sided with the city and the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision. Hittle appealed to the Supreme Court in October.

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