California AG’s Brief Urges Court to Side With Employee in Discrimination Suit

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in support urging the court to affirm an employee’s right to sue Liberty University for sex-based discrimination.

The brief, filed as part of a coalition of 20 attorneys general, says a lower court’s ruling protects states’ ability to enforce employment anti-discrimination laws.

In the case, Zinski v. Liberty University, Ellenor Zinski says she was fired by the university after it learned of her identity as a transgender woman.

“I’m deeply troubled by Liberty University’s effort to weaponize the First Amendment to justify clear and blatant employment discrimination, and I urge the Fourth Circuit to affirm the lower court’s ruling. No one should lose their job simply for being who they are,” Bonta stated.

According to court documents, Zinski was hired by Liberty University in February 2023 to work at its IT Help Desk. After the end of the 90-day probationary period, Zinski notified human resources of her identity as a transgender woman and that she planned to legally change her first name to Ellenor. One month later, Liberty University terminated her employment, asserting that, as a religious institution, it was entitled to fire her because of her transgender status.

In July 2024, Zinski sued the university, arguing that her termination violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex. In April 2025, a federal judge denied Liberty’s motion to dismiss Zinski’s case. The university appealed that decision.

In the brief, Bonta and the coalition argue that although Liberty incorrectly claims that the First Amendment right of expressive association— which can allow groups to exclude members if exclusion is necessary to preserve the group’s identity or message—justifies its actions, court precedent does not support applying expressive association in employment scenarios.

The brief also argues that the First Amendment’s ministerial exception, which shields religious institutions’ ability to select individuals for certain key roles from anti-discrimination laws, does not bar Zinski’s claims because she performed purely secular and administrative duties.

Bonta joins the attorneys general of Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin in filing the brief.

Topics Lawsuits California