Lawsuit Claims Christian Professional's Pro-Family Ties Cost Him Contracts
by Ed Thomas
October 11, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A Christian psychologist faces a potential battle on two fronts following the second loss of contract work for public safety agencies, allegedly due to his previously with the Christian organization, Illinois Family Institute (IFI). A lawsuit has been filed against the city of Springfield, Illinois, and is being considered against Minneapolis, Minnesota.Dr. Michael Campion is CEO and senior psychologist for Campion, Barrow, & Associates, Inc., a firm that provides a comprehensive list of psychological services to clients across the United States. The company's typical services include consultation to approximately 100 police departments throughout the nation.
Objection from the Springfield City Council to Campion's prior board membership at IFI spurred the loss of employment screening services his business provided for that city. Another city council objection in Minneapolis resulted in the psychologist's suspension, reinstatement, and then release from employment for similar public safety worker employment screenings.
This happened even though neither city nor their employees expressed any complaints about Campion's actual work performance. When his firm's contract with Springfield was terminated -- despite its impeccable reputation and a 15-year professional relationship with the city -- members of the City Council were publicly quoted as claiming that Campion's membership on IFI's board put him "out of touch with the mainstream" and that his affiliation with the pro-family group tainted him in such a way that he could not be objective in his work.
As a direct result of Springfield's actions and comments in the local media, at least one other client, a large Minneapolis police department, has recently suspended Campion and his firm. He sought assistance from the American Family Center for Law & Policy (AFA Law Center), which filed a federal lawsuit on his behalf on September 25.
Steve Crampton, chief counsel for the AFA Law Center, says Minneapolis may be the defendant in a second lawsuit, but that the Springfield case is perhaps the more key of the two cases right now. The reason, he explains, is the first case demonstrates "that you've got a domino effect that can result from [what is] really, kind of a smear campaign against Dr. Campion."
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Steve Crampton |
Crampton believes it is important in this matter to show that there is a double standard being exercised against a Christian professional "because of his deeply held religious convictions, and his daring to take action on the basis of those." The lawyer views the treatment of Campion as resulting from the same type of prejudice that characterized the "red scare" era that Senator Joe McCarthy presided over in the fifties."It's as if now belonging to a highly respected, Christian organization is being treated as the rough equivalent of belonging to a communist organization under the so-called 'McCarthyism' of some 50 years ago," the AFA Law Center spokesman observes.
But although an employment contract may be terminated for virtually any reason, the attorney notes, "there remain constitutionally impermissible reasons for doing so." Among the reasons for terminating a contract that are not permitted under the Constitution of the United States, he asserts, is disagreement with the employee's or contractor's conservative political or religious affiliations.
Under the circumstances of this case, Crampton points out, Springfield's actions not only endanger Dr. Campion's livelihood, but they also open the door for exclusion of all politically conservative or religious people from government jobs -- even where there is no evidence that the contractor's views negatively affect job performance.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
