UPDATED: Sweet Cakes: State orders Oregon bakery owners to pay $135,000 for denying service to same-sex couple

Updated at 2 p.m.



Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian on Thursday ordered the owners of a former Gresham bakery to pay $135,000 in damages to a lesbian couple for refusing to make them a wedding cake.

Avakian's ruling upheld a preliminary finding earlier this year that the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa had discriminated against the women on the basis of their sexual orientation.

Bakery owners Melissa and Aaron Klein cited their Christian beliefs against same-sex marriage in denying service. The case ignited a long-running skirmish in the nation's culture wars, pitting civil rights advocates against religious freedom proponents who argued business owners should have the right to refuse services for gay and lesbian weddings.

Avakian's final order makes clear that serving potential customers equally trumps the Kleins' religious beliefs. Under Oregon law, businesses cannot discriminate or refuse service based on sexual orientation, just as they cannot turn customers away because of race, sex, disability, age or religion, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries said in a news release.

"This case is not about a wedding cake or a marriage," Avakian wrote. "It is about a business's refusal to serve someone because of their sexual orientation. Under Oregon law, that is illegal.

"Within Oregon's public accommodations law is the basic principle of human decency that every person, regardless of their sexual orientation, has the freedom to fully participate in society. The ability to enter public places, to shop, to dine, to move about unfettered by bigotry."

Though the Oregon Equality Act of 2007 includes an exemption for religious organizations and schools, it does not permit private business owners to deny service and discriminate against potential customers, BOLI said.

The commissioner ordered the Kleins to pay $75,000 to Rachel Bowman-Cryer and $60,000 to Laurel Bowman-Cryer. His ruling may be appealed to the Oregon Court of Appeals.

Anna Harmon, one of three lawyers representing the Kleins, said Thursday an appeal is likely.

"That's up to our clients," Harmon said. "I believe at this point they are intending to preserve their constitutional rights as much as they can, and that would look like an appeal."

In a statement issued through their attorney, Paul A. Thompson, the Bowman-Cryers thanked BOLI for "sending a clear message that discrimination will simply not be tolerated in our state."

"This has been a terrible ordeal for our entire family. We never imagined finding ourselves caught up in a fight for social justice," they said. "We endured daily, hateful attacks on social media, received death threats and feared for our family's safety, yet our goal remained steadfast. We were determined to ensure that this kind of blatant discrimination never happened to another couple, another family, another Oregonian."

The controversy began in January 2013 when the Kleins turned away Rachel Cryer, as she was known then, and her mother from their bakery.

In August 2013, Cryer and her partner complained to the state Bureau of Labor and Industries. The agency conducted an investigation and in January 2014 brought charges that the Kleins had unlawfully discriminated against the couple because of their sexual orientation.

BOLI investigators said the Kleins' refusal violated the women's civil rights and recommended they pay $75,000 in damages to each woman for emotional suffering.

That triggered a conciliation process between the two parties to see if a settlement could be reached. The Kleins and the state, acting on the women's behalf, could not agree, so the case went before Alan McCullough, a BOLI administrative law judge.

During a hearing in March, both women testified to the emotional stress they attributed to their experience with Sweet Cakes as well as the glare of media attention that followed.

On Jan. 17, 2013, Cryer brought her mother, Cheryl McPherson, to a cake tasting appointment she had set up with Melissa Klein. That day, Melissa stayed home with the couple's twin 8-month-old-boys and Aaron went to the bakery. When he asked for the names of the bride and groom, Cryer said there would be two brides.

"I said, 'I'm very sorry, I believe I have wasted your time. We do not do cakes for same sex weddings,' " Klein testified.

Aaron Klein said his family, too, had suffered because of the case. Reporters came to his home and his shop, he testified during the March hearing.

The Sweet Cakes by Melissa car was vandalized and broken into twice. Photographers and florists severed ties with the company, eventually forcing Sweet Cakes to close the Gresham shop in September 2013. The business now operates out of the couple's home in Sandy.

Following the hearing, McCullough recommended $75,000 in damages be awarded to Rachel Bowman-Cryer and $60,000 to Laurel Bowman-Cryer.

This post will be updated.

-- George Rede

grede@oregonian.com

503-294-4004

@georgerede