Belmont Abbey College is fending off a discrimination allegation from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Belmont Abbey is a fine arts college near Charlotte, North Carolina. Becket Fund attorney Erick Kniffin, who is handling the case, explains that "in 2007, the College realized that its employer health benefits included coverage for contraceptives, abortion and sterilization, all which were against the College's moral principles." He explains that the school had the coverage removed from its policy, and when the faculty found out about it, they filed a claim with the EEOC claiming that the action was discriminating against them. "Their claim is that this is gender discrimination because prescription contraceptives are only available to females -- and accordingly to not provide benefits for that prescription is discrimination on the basis of gender," Kniffin further clarifies. According to the attorne, this is the logic that the EEOC has accepted in finding that Belmont Abbey has discriminated. The school is currently asking the agency to reconsider its decision. Kniffen considers the ruling an insult to all people who hold religious beliefs and think they can exercise them freely in this country.
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