Florist Baronelle Stutzman Refuses To Settle Discrimination Case Against Her

The religious right’s latest hero is refusing the State of Washington’s offer to settle the case for a mere $2000, proving she’s an activist.

“Barronelle Stutzman is now going to lose her business, her life savings, and possibly her own home for putting her faith into practice,” Fox News’ Erick Erickson claimed, incorrectly, yesterday.

Stutzman “stands to lose her business, her home, and her personal savings,” a CNN op-ed today wrongly claimed.

And The Heritage Foundation ran this apparently fictive piece today:

In a phone interview with The Daily Signal, Barronelle Stutzman said the decision—and its accompanying fines—will put her flower shop out of business, or worse.

After the fines and legal fees, “There won’t be anything left,” Stutzman said.

“They want my home, they want my business, they want my personal finances as an example for other people to be quiet.”

Who is Barronelle Stutzman?

She’s a Washington florist who, citing her deeply held religious beliefs, refused an order from a longtime customer to do his wedding, because he was marrying a man. 

A court this week found her guilty of discrimination.

“Washington’s anti-discrimination law allows for penalties of up to $2,000 per violation, as well as legal fees,” the Huffington Post reports. 

Imagine everyone’s surprise when the state of Washington today offered to settle with Stutzman for that $2000. And imagine everyone’s surprise when Stutzman refused to settle.

“Your offer reveals that you don’t really understand me or what this conflict is all about,” Stutzman wrote in her response to State Attorney General Bob Ferguson. “It’s about freedom, not money. I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my home, and everything else that your lawsuit threatens to take from my family, but my freedom to honor God in doing what I do best is more important.”

Attorney General Ferguson made clear he isn’t out to bankrupt the veteran business owner.

“My primary goal has always been to bring about an end to the Defendants’ unlawful conduct and to make clear that I will not tolerate discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,” AG Ferguson said in a statement.

Stutzman’s attorneys have been telling the media, and apparently, Stutzman, that she will lose her business, her home, and all her savings, for some odd reason.

Here’s Stutzman’s Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Kristen Waggoner, discussing the case in a promotional video published in March of last year:

And here she is in a Christian Post article, making the same claim:

“The lesson from the court’s decisions is that you put your home, your family business, and your life at risk by daring to defy a government mandate that forces you to promote views you believe are wrong,” Waggoner, an attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom, said in a statement.

One might think, given the attorney general’s desire to settle for a mere $2000, that the ADF is the only one telling Stutzman that she’s about to lose it all.

One almost wonders why that might be?