COMPASSCARE, A NEW YORK NONPROFIT CORPORATION; NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FAMILY AND LIFE ADVOCATES, DBA NIFLA, A VIRGINIA CORPORATION; FIRST BIBLE BAPTIST CHURCH, A NEW YORK NONPROFIT CORPORATION, Plaintiffs-Appellants-Cross-Appellees, v. KATHY HOCHUL, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK; ROBERTA REARDON, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS THE COMMISSIONER OF THE LABOR DEPARTMENT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK; AND LETITIA JAMES, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Defendants-Appellees-Cross-Appellants., 125 F.4th 49

Employers may have an associational-rights claim if an anti-discrimination law "forces [the employer] to employ individuals who act or have acted against the very mission of its organization.".

The freedom of expressive association does not permit an employer to generally discriminate in its employment practices - the right is implicated only when the employment decision "goes to the structure and identity of the association as an association.".

The Act's Notice Provision, requiring employers to notify employees of their rights under the Act in employee handbooks, is subject to rational basis review under Zauderer v. Office of Disciplinary Counsel, and it survives that review.

In light of Slattery, the court vacated the dismissal of Plaintiffs' expressive-association claim, the grant of summary-judgment to Plaintiffs as to the Act's Notice Provision, and the permanent injunction.

The plaintiffs (CompassCare, NIFLA, and First Bible Baptist Church) ...