City pays Catholic $825,000 for farmer's market ban because he won't host gay weddings

A six-year legal battle pitting freedom of conscience against municipal discrimination policies, in the context of access to a farmer's market, ended Friday with a massive settlement to the Catholic farmer who sued.

East Lansing, Michigan paid Steve Tennes $825,000 in damages and legal fees to end his lawsuit alleging First Amendment free exercise violations when it changed the vendor guidelines for the farmer's market after Tennes said he would host weddings except for same-sex nuptials on his Country Mills Farm outside the city.

The settlement, negotiated by his lawyers at the Alliance Defending Freedom, also includes a permanent injunction against East Lansing finding the farm in violation of its vendor guidelines "for declining to host same-sex wedding ceremonies."

Tennes stopped hosting farm weddings in summer 2016 after the city asked him not to attend the farmer's market as a vendor because of a complaint based on his response to an inquiry that the farm didn't host "same sex unions."

It let Tennes back in the market as a result, according to the August court ruling that approved his motion for partial findings on his free exercise claim.

But Tennes started hosting weddings again that December, "provid[ing] the catalyst" for the city to add a new section to the guidelines requiring vendors to follow East Lansing's nondiscrimination policies, Judge Paul Maloney said.

The Supreme Court's Fulton ruling against Philadelphia for kicking out a Catholic foster care agency from its placement program, because it wouldn't place children with same-sex couples, prompted Maloney to approve the motion this summer.

Both cases concern "individualized assessments" that gave city officials discretion in approving participants, making the laws not "generally applicable." In East Lansing's case, following its nondiscrimination policies was one of 14 factors the city considered for vendor approval, including fair pricing and "Having fun!"

City officials testified the factors were considered on a case-by-case basis and the guidelines gave no "indication about how to weigh the different factors," including the nondiscrimination factor, according to Maloney.

The Lansing State Journal reported the city already spent more than $292,000 on its own defense as of late October, citing documents obtained via public records request.