RICHMOND, VA – Tomorrow, Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver will present oral argument to the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Zinski v. Liberty University, arguing that the university, as a Christian employer, has an absolute right to only employ people who abide by its doctrinal statement.

Oral arguments will be held Tuesday, March 17, 2026, at the Lewis F. Powell Jr. Courthouse in Richmond, Virginia at 9:30 a.m. ET. The court’s livestream of the arguments can be viewed here.

Staver will hold a press conference following the oral arguments outside in front of the courthouse.

This case has attracted national attention judged by the amicus briefs submitted to the court. Multiple colleges, universities, and faith-based institutions, including legal scholars, have filed briefs in support of Liberty University. On the other hand, 19 Democrat-controlled states and the District of Columbia have filed in opposition. 

Liberty University terminated Zinski after he flagrantly and intentionally violated Liberty University’s doctrinal statement and policies regarding the biblical understanding of gender. When Zinski was hired, he acknowledged and affirmed the university’s doctrinal statement that declares human beings are created “as either biologically male or female from the womb.” But then as soon as his 90-day probation period expired, he revealed he had begun taking female hormones four months before he was hired, and that he planned to “identify” as female. Zinski set up this case when he applied to be hired. 

Zinski contends that Liberty University must be compelled to employ him despite his beliefs and actions being in direct opposition to the university’s religious mission, which is to infuse the campus community with the Christian faith. Zinski argues that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 Bostock decision, which interpreted sex discrimination to include gender identity, should remove Liberty’s religious autonomy and constitutional protections in this case because the question of his “sex” is involved. However, Bostock specifically left questions regarding Title VII religious liberty protections for “future cases.” 

Zinski v. Liberty University is that case. Liberty Counsel argues that Liberty University’s decision to terminate Zinski’s employment was based on his “defiant conduct in open violation of the university’s Doctrinal Statement.” Liberty made clear that its decision was “wholly religious” because Zinski failed to abide by its religious beliefs. 

Under the First Amendment’s ecclesiastical exception doctrine, the ministerial exception, and freedom of association, Liberty University is exempted from this lawsuit and is allowed to terminate a person who espouses an identity and beliefs directly contrary to its core Christian mission. The federal RFRA also shields Liberty University from liability under Title VII and protects it from federal employment laws that substantially burden its religious beliefs and employment requirement, concluded Liberty Counsel.

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “Jonathan Zinski violated Liberty University’s doctrinal statement, and his termination was solely based on his defiance of the university’s doctrine and mission statement. The law allows Liberty University to determine its religious beliefs and to require employees to act consistent with those beliefs. The implications of this case extend far beyond Liberty University. No faith-based employer will survive if a single employee can demand the employer to abandon its religious beliefs to conform to the employee’s worldview. But this is precisely the reason we have exemptions for religious employers and educational institutions in federal law which are inspired by the First Amendment.” 

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