Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Relax on a wagon ride before enjoying fresh donuts, caramel apples, and … Steve Tennes, who owns Country Mill Farms northeast of Charlotte, sued East Lansing in May 2017 after being denied a vendor's license for the city's farmers market. Contact reporter Megan Banta (517) 377-1261 or at mbanta@lsj.com. If the city gets away with this, it would be a very important development. A legal fight between East Lansing and a mid-Michigan orchard owner who says the city barred him from its farmers market over his stance on same … By Dec. 12, 2016, Tennes posted a new message on Facebook: He was resuming hosting weddings, but "only ceremonies involving one man and one woman. Country Mill Farms filed the lawsuit seeking to regain entry to the farmer’s market. But Steve Tennes, the owner of The Country Mill, wants to make his booth a permanent fixture at the farmer’s market. “The evidence here will conclude that Country Mill was targeted because of their faith,” Bursch said. Follow her on Twitter @MeganBanta_1. At issue is an unconstitutional policy that city officials adopted specifically to shut out Tennes and Country Mill Farms purely for that reason. The lawsuit originates from Tennes' claim that his business, Country Mill Farms LLC. In the case of Tennes' argument about retaliation, there isn't a legal precedent that writing about conduct can "transform that conduct into expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment," nor does claiming that business operations are expression make it true, Maloney writes. © 2020 www.detroitnews.com. GRAND RAPIDS – A federal judge will decide whether a Charlotte farm can return to the East Lansing Farmers Market when it starts in June. The city argued the ban is not based on religious beliefs, but rather on actions — specifically, the Tennes' decision not to allow same-sex couples to use their wedding venue. Citing Tennes’ Facebook post explaining that his family's religious beliefs prevented them from hosting same-sex weddings at the business, city officials said the practice violated East Lansing's civil rights ordinance, which prohibits discrimination. Pick your own apples, blueberries, peaches, sunflowers, and pumpkins at our 213 acre farm. Country Mill has roots back to the 1800’s and was purchased and expanded by Ann and Bernie Tennes in 1971. Stephen Tennes owns and operates Country Mill Farms. Following his lawsuit, a federal judge in 2017 ordered East Lansing to make room for him, saying the city likely violated his religious and free speech rights. On May 1, a jury awarded $240 million to thirty two intellectually disabled workers in connection with the EEOC’s claims that Hill Country Farms, their employer, discriminated against them and subjected them to a hostile work environment. The Michigan farmer who sued the city of East Lansing after he was excluded from the farmer’s market for his views on same-sex marriage will be back this weekend for his first full season in two years. 38. Days after the post, the city asked Tennes not to attend the next farmers market. A city ordinance, officials argued, prohibited vendors who engage in discriminatory “general business practices.” They are treating him as untouchable because he expressed an opinion they disagree with. But I don't know any other cases like it.". Organic apple grower Steve Tennes has been a fixture at the East Lansing farmers market for the past six years. Kelly Anderson, an attorney working on the Country Mill Farms case, summed up the situation well: provisions in the city code, including defining "general business practice" and tweaking what it means to harass. The lingering, complex questions in the case will need to be sorted out during a trial, said Robert Sedler, a constitutional law professor at Wayne State University Law School. Steve Tennes and His Family Farm, Country Mill. Overall, Maloney writes, while Tennes and city officials agree generally on what happened but also mostly "decline to engage the arguments advanced by the other side," leaving too many outstanding claims that only a trial can resolve. Maloney said: “… Under existing Supreme Court precedent, writing about conduct (denying a request for services) does not transform that conduct into expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment.Similarly, claiming that the operation of a business is expression does not make it so. Country Mill also participated in the 2018 market after the city granted Tennes a license because of the order. The farmer, who runs Country Mill Farms with his family, wants to be able to sell food to all people, but the city has been preventing him from doing so at the farmer’s market. "Our view is that we're prepared to go to trial," Lahanas said. Both sides indicated they're prepared to hash out the arguments next year in court. For subscribers: Second settlement with Adams Outdoor means more billboards in East Lansing, but not downtown, Unemployment fraud case moves forward, with millions at stake for victims, state. City officials granted the orchard a license for this year's market as well, announcing the farm as a vendor in a news release. Tennes had posted a statement on Facebook in August 2016 following a woman urging others online not to patronize Country Mill because she and her partner weren’t allowed to marry there. Maloney agreed with some aspects of both sides' arguments. He agreed that the city's ordinance was, in some ways, overly broad. In addition to discussing his religious beliefs, Tennes also stated that he would no longer rent his farm for weddings ceremonies that would violate Tennes' farm has filed a lawsuit against the city in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Michigan with the aid of the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom.