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Religious discrimination claimed in doctor's contract dispute with Minneapolis officials

A federal lawsuit has been filed against the city of Minneapolis, citing the violation of First Amendment rights. The case pivots around a doctor who lost his contract with the city due to his membership with a pro-family group.

Dr. Michael Campion is a licensed clinical psychologist who was hired in 2005 as an independent contractor by the city of Minneapolis. While under contract, he provided pre-employment testing, fitness-for-duty testing, and other services for the city's police department -- the type of work he and his consulting firm had performed over three-plus decades for more than 100 law enforcement agencies.

However, the Minneapolis Police Department stopped using Campion's services last fall after an Illinois newspaper criticized his affiliation with the Illinois Family Institute, a pro-family group based in Glen Ellyn. The city subsequently hired another firm that, according to the Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul), was less qualified and charged considerably more per evaluation.

Brian Raum is with the Alliance Defense Fund, which represents Campion. The attorney says the city must be held accountable for its actions. "If these kinds of things are allowed to continue, what's going to happen is Christians will no longer be eligible for jobs that others are eligible for," he says. "And Christians should not be treated as second-class citizens. They have every right to participate in the public square as anybody else."

Raum also states there is no evidence that Campion discriminated against anyone. According to Raum, Dr. Campion has a stellar record and is "one of the best, well-known police psychologists in this area of psychology." The attorney argues that government officials do not have the right to end someone's contract on the basis of religion or political viewpoint.