East Lansing has been ordered to pay $825,000 to the owners of a farm in Charlotte in a lawsuit that focused on First Amendment violations.
In 2017, the owners of Country Mill Farms applied to renew their license to sell as a vendor at East Lansing’s farmer’s market.
At the time, the city denied Country Mill’s permit citing a social media post by the farm’s owner, Steve Tennes, in which he expressed his refusal to host same-sex weddings. Tennes stated the decision follows his adherence to teachings from the Catholic Church.
East Lansing said the post was a violation of its civil rights ordinance and a breach of public policy against discrimination. Tennes was then banned from attending the market as a vendor.
According to the lawsuit, adherence to the city's ordinances was not required when Country Mill Farms was first invited to the market. East Lansing stated it didn’t learn of Tennes' business practices until August 2016. The farm owner sued the city in 2017 saying he was unfairly dismissed due to his religious beliefs.
That year, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan Judge Paul Maloney sided with Tennes, issuing a preliminary injunction that would allow the farm owner to continue operating at the market until the lawsuit was resolved. He said that East Lansing's shift in enforcing city ordinances was retaliatory against Tennes.
“The change in the Vendor Guidelines was a “masked", or “veiled,” attempt to regulate their religious beliefs or their religiously motivated conduct,” wrote Maloney in his opinion in 2017.
This August, Maloney officially overturned the city’s decision to deny Tennes the license. He said the city's denial of the farmer’s application was a violation of First Amendment rights.
“Under the Free Exercise Clause, the government 'cannot in a selective manner impose burdens only on conduct motivated by religious belief' while failing 'to prohibit nonreligious conduct' that undermines the interests protected by the law,” wrote Maloney in his opinion.
Now East Lansing will pay $41,199 in damages to Tennes and $783,801 to his attorneys. Tennes was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal organization.
In a statement, lawyers said they agreed with the court’s decision that the Frist Amendment covers the farm’s religious freedoms.
“We’re pleased to favorably settle this lawsuit on behalf of Steve so he and his family can continue doing what Country Mill does best, as expressed in its mission statement: ‘glorifying God by facilitating family fun on the farm and feeding families’,” said Kate Anderson with Alliance Defending Freedom.
Representative of the city of East Lansing did not return WKAR’s request for comment.
