NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The state appeals court in Nashville has ruled a Jewish couple in Knox County who were turned away by a Methodist foster care agency has a right to sue the state of Tennessee for religious discrimination.
In January 2022, Elizabeth and Gabriel Rutan-Ram filed a lawsuit after they said a law passed in 2020 allowed the state-funded Holston United Methodist Home for Children to reject them as adoptive parents because of their faith.
The law, House Bill 0836, allowed private adoption agencies to deny adoptions on moral and religious grounds.
The couple said they were in the process of fostering to adopt a child from Florida when they were abruptly turned away by the Greeneville-based foster care agency.
It would have provided out-of-state training services for them, as required by the Tennessee Department of Children's Services. The organization is one of the few able to provide services needed to adopt an out-of-state child, according to the court filing. The couple said Holston told them it “only provide[s] adoption services to prospective adoptive families that share our [Christian] belief system” in an email the day before they would have started training.
Four faith leaders, a retired psychologist and an officer of the Tennessee chapter of Americans United For Separation of Church and State joined the couple in filing the lawsuit.
In late June 2022, their lawsuit was dismissed by a state court. The court said that the law had nothing to do with the agency's refusal and said that the matter had also been resolved since the couple later became foster parents.
In October, the couple with the Tennessee chapter of Americans United For Separation of Church and State filed an appeal arguing they can fairly sue for religious discrimination.
On Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, a three-judge panel ruled the Rutan-Rams have a right to sue as prospective foster parents and as taxpayers, reversing the June 2022 ruling of the state trial court panel.
In a release, Americans United said it "argued that the Rutan-Rams have standing to sue because they continue to face religious discrimination by Holston and other taxpayer-funded, religiously affiliated foster care agencies. They therefore lack access to the same services available to Christians, and they continue to suffer the stigma that discrimination inflicts on its victims."
“Liz and Gabe Rutan-Ram suffered outrageous discrimination because they are Jewish,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United, in the release. “This loving couple wanted to help a child in need, only to be told that they couldn’t get services from a taxpayer-funded agency because they’re the wrong religion. Liz and Gabe deserve their day in court, and Americans United intends to see that they get it. Religious freedom must never be a license to harm others – and AU is the shield that protects us all from those who would weaponize it.”
The release also said the court ruled that the six other plaintiffs in the original lawsuit have a right to sue.