Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado, is the target of another lawsuit.
Phillips and his store came into the national spotlight after the Supreme Court ruled on portions of a lawsuit stemming from him refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex couple on the basis of his religion.
The court ruled 7-2 that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission was hostile to Phillips’ faith and didn’t act neutrally toward his religion.
He was then sued a second time on behalf of Autumn Scardina for refusing to make a cake reportedly celebrating Scardina’s gender transition. That suit was later dismissed, but now Scardina is trying again, according to CBS4.
Scardina’s lawyer, Paula Greisen, said the cake was a birthday cake and the lawsuit claims Phillips used deceptive and unfair trade practices to discriminate against her.
“Masterpiece Cakeshop said before the Supreme Court they would serve any baked good to members of the LGBTQ community. It was just the religious significance of it being a wedding cake,” Griesen said. “We don’t believe they’ve been honest with the public.”
A statement from Jim Campbell, whose firm represented Phillips in the Supreme Court case, said the third lawsuit against the baker was harassment.
“A new lawsuit has been filed against Masterpiece Cakeshop that appears to largely rehash old claims,” Campbell said. “The State of Colorado abandoned similar ones just a few months ago. So this latest attack by Scardina looks like yet another desperate attempt to harass cake artist Jack Phillips.”
“And it stumbles over the one detail that matters most: Jack serves everyone; he just cannot express all messages through his custom cakes,” he added.
The new lawsuit is seeking damages through a jury trial.
