Michigan Supreme Court Hears Former Calvin Professor’s Discrimination Claim
Event date: October 8, 2026 oral arguments | Source publication: Michigan Advance, October 8, 5:01 p.m. | Site publication: October 9, 2026
The Michigan Supreme Court heard arguments on Joseph Kuilema’s application for leave to appeal in a dispute with Calvin University. The former professor challenges dismissal of his associational-discrimination claim after the university ended his employment following his officiation of a same-sex wedding.
Kuilema’s lawyer argues Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act protects association even when the employee does not personally have the protected characteristic at issue. Calvin argues that the claim requires discriminatory treatment tied to the employee’s own protected characteristic. Its filed brief also invokes First Amendment protections for the university’s religious mission and employment decisions.
Status: Pending proceedings. The October 8 arguments concerned the application for leave to appeal; they did not produce a final merits ruling. The court’s January 14 order identified questions about whether the statute provides this associational-discrimination cause of action and whether it was adequately pleaded.
The case concerns the reach of civil-rights employment protections and religious institutional autonomy. It is not primarily a racial-discrimination dispute.
Sources: Contemporaneous hearing report · Calvin’s filed supplemental brief · Court order setting argument on the application