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Christian Baker who won at high court suing Colorado

Posted at 10:29 AM, Aug 15, 2018
and last updated 2018-08-15 14:34:22-04

The Colorado baker who wouldn’t make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple and won a ruling at the U.S. Supreme Court is suing the state over another discrimination allegation.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, lawyers for Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips allege that Colorado is on a “crusade to crush” him because of his religious beliefs.

The Supreme Court sided with Phillips in June, saying comments by a member of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission displayed an anti-religious bias. It didn’t rule on whether business owners can invoke religious objections to refuse service to LGBT people.

Jack Phillips
FILE – In this March 10, 2014, file photo, Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips decorates a cake inside his store in Lakewood, Colo.

Less than a month later, the commission found probable cause that Phillips discriminated against someone else by refusing to make a cake celebrating a gender transition. It cited another part of the Supreme Court ruling to back up its decision.

The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. The legal rule called “Younger abstention “generally forbids federal courts from handling civil rights claims while they are being heard in state courts.

Phillips’ lawyers plan to argue that Colorado is acting in bad faith, warranting the case’s removal to federal court.

Back in 2012, Phillips was asked to create a custom wedding cake to celebrate a same-sex marriage. Phillips says he offered to make a cake for the couple for a different event, but the couple declined and filed a lawsuit shortly after.