Holy Sexuality v. Asana
Description: A California software company denied a nonprofit discount to a Christian nonprofit solely because it is a religious organization.
Christian nonprofit sues tech company over religious discrimination
SAN DIEGO – Alliance Defending Freedom’s Center for Free Speech filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of Christian nonprofit Holy Sexuality after a California software company denied it a discount solely because it is a religious organization.
Holy Sexuality is a Christian nonprofit that creates video courses to teach young people and families about biblical principles on human sexuality. Holy Sexuality contacted Asana, a San Francisco-based tech company, and requested the 50% discount Asana offers to nonprofits on its project management software. Asana outright denied that discount to Holy Sexuality, however, saying that “organizations that are ... religious … in nature aren’t eligible,” violating California law.
“Christians and other people of faith aren’t second-class citizens in California, and San Francisco tech companies can’t refuse discounts to customers simply because they’re religious,” said ADF Legal Counsel Mathew Hoffmann. “We are urging the court to affirm our client Holy Sexuality’s fundamental freedom of religion, declare Asana’s discriminatory denial and policy unlawful, and require Asana to grant Holy Sexuality the nonprofit discount.”
Holy Sexuality is a Christian ministry that lives out its faith by creating educational content about biblical teachings. After seeing much confusion in the ongoing societal debate surrounding sexuality and gender identity, Dr. Christopher Yuan founded Holy Sexuality to provide resources for any family to understand, embrace, and celebrate biblical sexuality.
Asana immediately denied the discount to the Christian nonprofit citing its Religious Discrimination Policy, published on its website, which refuses to provide the discount to any “[r]eligious organizations that exist to solely propagate a belief in a specific faith.”
In the lawsuit, the attorneys explain how the denial and Asana’s published policy are both blatant examples of religious discrimination. Both are also illegal under California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which entitles all people in California “no matter what their … religion” to “full and equal” treatment from businesses.
“Our nation was founded on the principle of the free exercise of religion—a cornerstone of our democracy,” Dr. Yuan said. “Yet some corporations, emboldened by intersectional ideology and anti-Christian sentiment, choose to unlawfully discriminate based solely on religion. This must stop. California law protects all religions from discrimination. Equal treatment is the bedrock of our society.”
ADF attorneys filed the lawsuit Holy Sexuality v. Asana, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of California. Robert J. Reynolds is serving as co-counsel on behalf of Holy Sexuality.
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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ABOUT Mathew Hoffmann
Mathew Hoffmann serves as legal counsel in the Center for Free Speech at Alliance Defending Freedom, where he works to defend free speech and combat global censorship and coercion. He has represented clients in free expression cases across the country and has argued cases before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Seventh and Ninth Circuits and the Alabama Supreme Court. Before joining ADF, Hoffmann clerked for the Honorable Robert J. Luck of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and served as an associate at a large law firm. Hoffmann earned his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School in 2018. He graduated summa cum laude and served as an editor for the Notre Dame Law Review. He is a 2016 Blackstone Fellow. Before law school, Hoffmann graduated from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Science with honors in chemistry and a double major in government. Hoffmann is admitted to practice before the District of Columbia and Virginia bars, as well as numerous federal appellate and trial courts.