As I explained, that freedom of refusal of contracted work will not work if the reason for the refusal is due to the party being one of the protected classes (though that can depend upon what state you are in) . And a liberal civil rights commission will be the one to decide what your reason was.
It can be hard to tell when a business has the legal right to remove customers. We’ve all seen the sign, “We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.” While that’s true, owners do not have the right to refuse service for any reason.Thanks to federal laws like the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, no state that serves the public can discriminate based on:
Race or color
National origin or citizenship status
Religion or creed
Sex
Age
Disability, pregnancy, or genetic information
Veteran status
On top of federal laws, state laws often cover more groups in their discrimination laws. For example, California also covers:
Marital status
Sexual orientation or gender identity
Medical condition, or AIDS/HIV status
Military or veteran status
Political affiliations or activities
Primary language
Immigration status
Status as a victim of assault, domestic violence, or stalking - https://huckleberry.com/blog/right-to-refuse-service/
And since ideology (esp.conservatives) does not qualify one to be a protected class (though, as with homosexuality, it is a mindset, and feeling), then in some states a restaurant can refuse to serve such. But not due to race, color, etc. - and sexual orientation.
A Virginia restaurant’s decision not to serve White House press secretary Sarah Sanders raises a major question: Can businesses serving the public legally do that? ... Brian Powell, a sociology professor at Indiana University Bloomington, says you cannot compare this case to Sanders’ incident because sexual orientation is a protected status in some states while political viewpoints are not. - https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/29/us/when-businesses-can-deny-you-service-trnd/index.html
I obviously support Masterpiece being able refuse to agree to commissioned work on moral grounds.
Yes, it does.
There is a difference between contract work and service and you keep putting them together when they are not the same thing at all.
Not legally. Not in reality. And that is why SCOTUS said they had overstepped.
If an Asian-African transsexual polyamerous dwarf with AIDS, acne and a limp asks me to take a contract, I am not obliged to do so.
I am obliged to accept employment from no one.
Now if I am so stupid as to tell he or she that the limp really grosses me out he or she can try to sue me. And eventually lose.