Persecuted Minneapolis Psychiatrist Wins Damages from the City

• By Alan Sears
• Posted Oct 5, 2010
• 3 Comments »

The case of Dr. Michael Campion almost sounds more like a men’s clothing store than a legal showdown.  Dr. Campion’s Christian faith didn’t suit the city of Minneapolis, so it fired him.  The firing didn’t suit Dr. Campion, so he filed suit against the city.  After a preliminary ruling by the court that was very favorable to Dr. Campion, the city realized that it would likely lose, and agreed to pay the good doctor a considerable sum in damages – which suits him just fine.

All in all, it was a case tailor-made for the Alliance Defense Fund.

The battle began when Minneapolis officials, who’d been paying Dr. Campion for years to conduct psychological tests of their police officers, learned that he also was a former Board member for the Illinois Family Institute, a conservative Christian group.

Apparently convinced that his faith might be warping his judgment, the city hired an independent psychological testing company to evaluate him.  That evaluation showed no evidence that Dr. Campion’s work was flawed or biased in any way.  In fact, the report said that the doctor was performing beyond expectations and was clearly “an expert in this line of work.”

Minneapolis officials weren’t convinced, so they “suspended” Dr. Campion.  When they requested contract proposals to find another psychologist to provide police screening, he applied again.  Instead, the city hired a less-experienced and more expensive contractor.  Clearly, Dr. Campion’s rights and reputation were being undercut simply because he is a Christian.

ADF attorneys filed the lawsuit Campion v. City of Minneapolis on behalf of Dr. Campion in federal district court, and in a preliminary ruling, the court found “that the City of Minneapolis removed Dr. Campion because of his constitutionally protected involvement with a Christian organization,” says ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Jim Campbell, who argued the case on behalf of Dr. Campion.  The court also noted, Campbell says, “that the doctor’s ‘First Amendment interests appear to be strong.’”

Seeing the handwriting on the wall, the city agreed to a settlement (approved in early September 2010 by the Minneapolis City Council) and will pay Dr. Campion a substantial monetary settlement.  ADF represented the doctor free of charge.

“This settlement reinforces that the government shouldn’t penalize Christian contractors for their beliefs,” Campbell says.

“Officials for the city of Minneapolis should base their contracting decisions on experience and qualifications, not on their disagreement with pro-family beliefs,” said ADF Senior Counsel Brian Raum. “Terminating their relationship with Dr. Campion despite his tried and proven track record was simply not justifiable.”

Christian professionals all over the country are facing the kind of persecution Dr. Campion experienced … being compelled, in many cases, to choose between their faith and their career.  Pray that these Christians will respond with faith and courage, and that our ADF attorneys and allies will continue, by God’s grace, to represent them so effectively in our nation’s legal system.