Judge rejects Colorado's bid to dismiss discrimination suit filed by Christian baker Jack Phillips

A federal judge has rejected Colorado’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Christian baker Jack Phillips, who has accused the state of targeting him based on his religious beliefs with its latest civil-rights investigation.

Senior U.S. District Judge Wiley T. Daniel said the Colorado Commission on Civil Rights and Colorado Civil Rights Division Director Aubrey Elenis had shown evidence of “bad faith” by filing a formal complaint against him in October over his refusal to create a cake to celebrate a gender transition.

“The decision to pursue the discrimination charge occurred after Masterpiece I, and this decision by Director Elenis and the Defendant Commissioners supports the existence of bad faith,” Judge Daniel said in his Friday ruling.

Mr. Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado, filed the lawsuit accusing the state of targeting him after the commission’s latest complaint, which was filed a few months after his Supreme Court victory in June over his refusal to bake a cake for a same-sex ceremony.

In the case known as Masterpiece I, the high court ruled that commissioners had shown bias against Mr. Phillips by, for example, making derogatory comments about his religion, but stopped short of affirming the First Amendment rights of small-business owners who refuse services for gay weddings.

More