Christian realtor sues state for religious discrimination

A Christian realtor in Virginia who was banned by the state Real Estate Board from using Bible verses on her business cards and web pages is suing the regulators.

Hadassah Carter, represented by the American Center for Law and Justice, put the Bible verse John 3:16 on her real estate website and included phrases such as "Jesus Loves You" in her email signature.

ACLJ, which has filed a lawsuit on her behalf, said the Virginia Real Estate Board, a state agency, filed a complaint accusing her of violating Virginia's fair housing statutes.

"To be clear, the board did not charge her for a refusal to rent to or to represent any person," ACLJ said. "The complaint absurdly stated that because these realtors used religious speech, they could make someone feel discriminated against."

Such attacks from the left are becoming more common, ACLJ said, with agencies "telling realtors, appraisers, and auctioneers that they cannot put Bible verses on their cards, website, or email signatures."

"The Left seems to think of religious speech in real estate as a twofer target. They can assault both religion and free speech at the same time. So they file complaints against innocent people and let real discriminators go free. Most recently the Commonwealth of Virginia has engaged in this practice," the organization said.

"How does saying, 'I'm a Christian realtor' indicate discrimination? It doesn't. Continuing its denial of reality, the Left argues that it does. This is like arguing that 'up' is 'down' and 'down' is 'up,' a ridiculous argument but now being used in a terrible way. Hadassah stood to lose her job because a government agency didn’t want to follow the law," the group said.

There have been no actual complaints against Carter, ACLJ said. "She has a diverse clientele of Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists, Kenyans and Vietnamese."

The state agency took notice of Carter's email signature when she contacted it on behalf of a client who had faced discrimination.

The Real Estate Board, ACLJ said, then "forced" her employer to "enter into an agreement to monitor her and report back on her religious expression."

ACLJ argues the board is discriminating on the basis of viewpoint, which the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled to be unconstitutional.

"In our lawsuit on Hadassah's behalf, we're seeking to get a declaration that Hadassah was justly exercising her First Amendment rights and the board's actions were unconstitutional," ACLJ said. "We're also seeking a permanent injunction against the Virginia Board of Realtors to prevent them from doing to anyone else what they did to Hadassah."

The lawsuit alleges the state board's actions violate the state constitution as well as the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

Because of the state "restrictions placed on her free speech," ACLJ said, Carter has not been involved in realty for more than a year, the complaint states.