Christian Astronomer Facing Religious Discrimination

We are preparing for trial in a very important religion discrimination case in Kentucky that's likely to attract a lot of attention.
 
We represent Professor Martin Gaskell, an internationally-respected astronomer who was turned down for the post of Observatory Director at the University of Kentucky in 2007 after concerns were voiced that some of his writings contained in a personal website discussing the relationship between science and religion showed him to be potentially evangelical. 
 
Professor Gaskell has filed suit against the University claiming that, by considering his religion in the hiring process, Kentucky violated Title VII, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, among other things, prohibits employers from using an applicants race, color, religion, sex or national origin in making hiring decisions.
 
In an important decision just days ago, a federal district judge denied the University's motion for summary judgment with Judge Karl Forester of the U.S. District Court in Lexington, Kentucky ruling that Professor Gaskell had produced direct evidence of religious discrimination, evidence that requires that the case now proceed to trial.
 
The decision, posted here, represents an important step toward protecting religious and academic freedom.
 
In clearing the way for the trial to proceed, Judge Forester specifically noted the following:

• The record contains substantial evidence that Gaskell was a leading candidate for the position until the issue of his religion became part of the search committees deliberations.
• The head of the search committee wrote in an email to the Chair of the Physics & Astronomy Department that no objective observer could possibly believe that we excluded Martin [Gaskell] on any basis other than religious . . .
• The Department Chair admitted that the debate generated by Gaskells website and his religious beliefs was an element in the decision not to hire Gaskell.
• One member of the search committee admitted that Gaskells views of religious things were a factor in his decision not to support Gaskells candidacy.
• Another member of the committee, having discovered Gaskells website, warned fellow committee members that Gaskell was potentially evangelical.
• The search committee head, anticipating a decision against Gaskell by his fellow committee members, wrote that Other reasons will be given for the choice . . . but the real reason we will not offer him the job is because of his religious beliefs in matters that are unrelated to astronomy or to any of the other duties specified for this position.

We have assembled a legal team to work on this important case.  I've asked Senior Counsel Francis J. Manion, who is representing Professor Gaskell, to put this case into perspective in his own words:

This is the clearest case of religious discrimination imaginable. We have direct evidence, in the very words of the emails of search committee members and the department chair, admitting that our clients religion and religious beliefs all but disqualified him for a position he was eminently qualified for. Prior to becoming aware of Martin Gaskells religious beliefs, the committee members were praising Gaskell as clearly the most qualified of the candidates for the position and someone who has already been doing everything we want an observatory director to do for years. But after Gaskells religious beliefs entered the picture, he was passed over in favor of an applicant who, according to the search committee chair, possessed almost no relevant experience.
 
Said Manion: One of the committee members worried that Gaskell was potentially evangelical as if this was a disqualifier. But can anyone imagine a potential employer  voicing concerns that an applicant was potentially Jewish, or potentially Muslim, potentially Lithuanian, or potentially African-American?  The complete blindness of University officials to the illegality of what they were engaged in here is shocking.
 
But the reality is that Gaskell is actually Evangelical and not shy about sharing his faith with others. And that seems to be what really irked his opponents on the search committee. They seemed unable to accept that a scientist could also be a Christian, let alone an Evangelical Christian. The committee went to extraordinary lengths to paint Gaskell as a scientific creationist in spite of the fact that the very website that caused them so much concern contains Gaskells view that he has no theological problem with the idea of God doing things in the ways described in modern theories of evolution.  Gaskells opponents resorted to caricaturing and misrepresenting his actual views because they were uncomfortable with his basic willingness to identify himself as both a scientist and a Christian believer.
 
Incredibly, the University of Kentucky allowed what one of its own faculty members called a McCarthyism of the Left to sway its decision on Gaskells application, added Manion.

Professor Gaskell is a research astronomer who is internationally known for his research on supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies. He has published extensively in the peer reviewed journals and his papers have been cited over 5000 times in the scientific literature. He is also an award-winning teacher of introductory and advanced college astronomy courses who would have been an extraordinary asset to the University.
 
We're pleased with the court's decision rejecting the University's motion for summary judgment and we now look forward to vindicating Professor Gaskell's rights in the trial of this case - set for February 8, 2011 in federal court in Lexington.