The trials and tribulations for Sweet Cakes By Melissa continue. You may recall that this is the Oregon bakery that refused to bake a cake for a lesbian couple’s wedding. Since then, they’ve been on the receiving end of protests, hit piece articles, and a lawsuit.
The Oregonian reports:
The lesbian couple turned away by a Gresham bakery that refused to make them a wedding cake for religious reasons should receive $135,000 in damages for their emotional suffering, a state hearings officer says.
Rachel Bowman-Cryer should collect $75,000 and her wife, Laurel Bowman-Cryer, $60,000 from the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, an administrative law judge for the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries said in a proposed order released Friday, April 24.
“This is a proposed order and we view this matter as continuing to be active litigation,” Paul Thompson, a lawyer for the Bowman-Cryers, said.
Anna Harmon, one of three attorneys representing Aaron and Melissa Klein, said, “It’s a shocking result and it shows the state’s relentless campaign to punish Oregonians who live and work according to their faith.”
“The important thing to realize is this,” she added, “This is real money that Aaron and Melissa are going to have to pay that otherwise would be used to pay their mortgage and feed their kids.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the Klein family at http://www.gofundme.com/su4cxqe6 .
You can reach “Administrative Law Judge” Alan McCullough at (541) 686-7510.
