Bigoted Judge: Christian Should Pay $135,000 to Homosexuals for Refusal to Bake Gay-Themed Cake
The lesbian couple turned away by a Gresham bakery that refused to make them a wedding cake for religious reasons should receive $135,000 in damages for their emotional suffering, a state hearings officer says.
Rachel Bowman-Cryer should collect $75,000 and her wife, Laurel Bowman-Cryer, $60,000 from the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, an administrative law judge for the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries said in a proposed order released Friday, April 24.
Bureau prosecutors sought $75,000 for each woman — $150,000 total — during a hearing on damages in March.
The amounts recommended by law judge Alan McCullough, coming after four days of testimony, are not final. State Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian has the final authority to raise, lower or leave the proposed damages as is.
Friday’s ruling comes as the newest development in a legal dispute over a Christian couple’s insistence that their religious beliefs against same-sex marriage trump a state law requiring them to serve customers equally. (Read more from “Same-Sex Couple in Sweet Cakes Controversy Should Receive $135,000 due to Refusal to Bake Gay Cake” HERE)
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