Opinion ID: 775959
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Jo Ann Knight

Text: 8 For approximately the last nine years, Knight worked as a nurse consultant for Connecticut's Department of Public Health (the Department). Knight v. Conn. Dep't of Health, 97 Civ. 2114, 2000 WL 306447, at  (D. Conn. Feb. 22, 2000). Before the events leading up to this lawsuit, her duties included supervising and surveying the provision of medical services by various Medicare agencies to home health care patients, in part by interviewing patients at their homes. Id. Knight describes herself as a born-again Christian. Id. 9 On October 1, 1996, Knight visited the home of a same-sex couple, one of whom was in the end stages of AIDS. Id. At some point, apparently after finishing the survey, Knight and the two men began discussing religion. Id. Knight said she experienced a strong sense of compassion for both men and a `leading of the Holy Spirit' to talk with the men regarding salvation. Id. After asking the men about their religious beliefs, she told them that good works [are] not unto salvation, and that salvation was confessing with the mouth that Jesus is the Son of God and believing in one's heart that God raised Him from the dead. Id. Subsquently, after one man stated he did not believe he would be punished for his homosexual lifestyle, Knight told him, although God created us and loves us, He doesn't like the homosexual lifestyle. Id. After the visit, the men filed complaints against the Department with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities alleging discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the provision of state services and ultimately filed a lawsuit against Knight, which was later dismissed. Id. 10 On January 3, 1997, Knight received a letter from the Department suspending her for four weeks without pay for the good of the service and specifically, for misconduct in [her] dealings with a homosexual couple during a home visit. Id. (alteration in the original). Knight and the Department entered into an agreement reducing the suspension to a two-week period without pay and restricting Knight's duties to exclude home visits to patients. The agreement required Knight to create a Plan of Correction, 2 to be approved by the program manager, before resuming home visits. Id. 11 Knight brought suit on October 6, 1997. Both sides moved for summary judgment. In granting defendants' motion, the district court found Knight's religious speech to her clients caused them distress and interfered with the performance of her duties, permitting the state to take action. Id. at . Further, the district court found Knight did not show she was treated differently than other similarly situated employees, or that the state intentionally discriminated against her. Id. at . Finally, the district court found permitting Knight to evangelize to clients would require the imposition of her ideas on a diverse patient population, such that accommodating this religious practice would constitute an undue hardship for the defendants. Id. at . This appeal followed.