Supreme Court backs home-school group in chicken dinner squabble

After six years, tens of thousands of dollars in attorneys fees and a trip to the Supreme Court an argument that began over a chicken dinner has reached a conclusion.

The Indiana Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Indiana Civil Rights Commission overstepped its authority when it intervened in a religious organization's "inter-group squabble" over a family's complaint that a teen girl was discriminated against when she didn't receive a special meal because of an allergy.

The dispute started in 2008 when the Fishers Adolescent Catholic Enrichment Society held an All Souls' Day Masquerade Ball dinner-dance social for home-school students.

The complaint focused on Elizabeth Bridgewater's claim that FACES refused to accommodate her then-15-year-old daughter, who is allergic to chicken.

She asked for a steak dinner instead, but leaders declined the request and suggested she bring a meal from home for her daughter.

After Bridgewater filed a discrimination complaint with the Indiana Civil Rights Commission and arranged for the banquet hall staff to prepare a steak dinner for her daughter, FACES expelled her family from the small nonprofit group.

The family's claim alleged "disability discrimination" and later retaliation in violation of the state's civil rights laws.

The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled in May 2013 that FACES discriminated against the family for booting them from the organization after the complaint was filed.

That ruling upheld most of the commission's 2012 decision that had ordered FACES to pay $2,500 in damages to the family and to not retaliate against members who file complaints.

But the Supreme Court justices ruled Tuesday that the law is clear: The commission can only intervene in complaints pertaining to educational matters.

"Neither the disability discrimination claim nor the retaliatory discrimination claim are related to education, and thus the commission has exceeded its statutory authority," the justices wrote.

FACES disbanded in 2010, according to the Thomas More Society of Chicago, which represented it in court, because of the burden related to the court case.

"Unfortunately, it took years of effort and hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney time in order to stop this outrageous government overreach," Peter Breen, vice president and senior counsel for the Thomas More Society, said in a statement. "We're glad that the Indiana Supreme Court has now ordered the Commission to stop its harassment and dismiss this case."

Nelson A. Nettles, an attorney representing the Bridgewater family, declined comment this morning.

A spokesman for the Indiana Civil Rights Commission said he had just learned of the ruling and would provide comment later today.

Call Star reporter Ryan Sabalow at (317) 444-6179. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSabalow.