A federal jury sided with an Idaho family in a so-called “war on Christmas” lawsuit that was filed after a homeowner’s association (HOA) openly discriminated against Christians.
The Morris family held a huge Christmas event at their house every year in Hayden, inviting members of the public to the free event and paying for it entirely out of pocket. They did ask for donations for a local charity, the Children’s Village.
At the event, visitors saw an array of lights, learned about the story of the nativity of Jesus Christ, and sang traditional hymns.
The Morris family planned to move to a new home and put an offer on another house in Hayden that was under the authority of the West Hayden Estates Homeowner’s Association. Jeremy Morris reached out to the HOA to ask how he could configure the annual Christmas event so it would fit into the neighborhood.
The offer went through and the Morris family bought the house. But the couple who previously owned the house said that the HOA had sent a letter to the Morris family that openly discriminated against Christians. In the letter, the HOA included a statement that they did not want the Morris family “to push their religious beliefs on others in the neighborhood due to there being non-Christians living here,” reported The Coeur d’Alene Press.
“I am somewhat hesitant in bringing up the fact that some of our residents are non-Christians or of another faith and I don’t even want to think of the problems that could bring up … we do not wish to become entwined in any expensive litigation to enforce long-standing rules and regulations and fill our neighborhood with the hundreds of people and possible undesirables,” the final draft letter stated.
An earlier draft had said that some of the residents were “avowed atheists” and said the HOA didn’t want to “ill our neighborhood with the riff-raff you seemed to attract over by WalMart … We don’t allow ‘those kind’ in our neighborhood.”
During the trial, Angie Cox, who lives next door to the house the Morris family bought, testified that she called HOA head Jennifer Scott one day on the phone. She said she’d asked Scott, “‘Is it he’s really breaking the law—or breaking the rules or you guys just don’t want him here?’ And she [Scott] told me [Cox], ‘We just don’t want him here.'”
Jury sides with Morris family in this unusual Christmas story https://t.co/V2bKISPvRS pic.twitter.com/4Q38lTYvk0
— CDA Press News (@CdAPressNews) November 23, 2018
Jury awards $75,000 to Hayden couple in ‘war on Christmas’ lawsuit | The Spokesman-Review https://t.co/kdY92WqVHn
— Kelly L Russell (@MomOfGeek49) November 25, 2018
Jury Verdict
The unanimous verdict was decided in early November.
The jury found that the West Hayden Estates HOA had discriminated against the Morrises during and after their purchase of the home, reported the Idaho Spokesman-Review.
The jury also found that the letter that showed a “preference that a non-religious individual” should purchase the home would violate the HOA’s own covenants, conditions, and restrictions.
The jury awarded the couple $60,000 in compensatory damages and $15,000 in punitive damages.
Jeremy Morris said after the ruling that the crux of the complaint was rooted in religious discrimination.
“The letter talks just like normal people talk every day,” he told the outlet. “Normally, people don’t say, ‘Listen, you’re fired because I don’t like the color of your skin.'”
He said his family plans to move from the neighborhood to a piece of land that will have more room for their Christmas programs, which have exploded in popularity thanks to the media attention from the lawsuit.
“Our family will live wherever we want to live to spread the message of Jesus Christ and the birth of our savior,” he said. “We’re looking forward. We’re positive. We’re excited.”
