TITLE:
Navigating Customer Discrimination Law for “Christian Owned and Operated” Businesses
AUTHORS:
Mumphord H. Kendall, Sonnet M. Johnston
KEYWORDS:
Title II, Religion in Business, Discrimination Law, Religious Freedom, Public Accommodation, Business Ethics
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Industrial and Business Management,
Vol.16 No.9,
September
20,
2026
ABSTRACT: This article is the third in a series on legal challenges particular to Christian owned and operated businesses. According to official directories, there are over 60,000 businesses in the United States that lay open claim to the title “Christian owned and operated”. Making this sort of faith statement is protected by law in the United States but can result in legal challenges. For instance, when such businesses attempt to put their religious beliefs into practice by discriminating regarding which customers they serve and under what conditions, they could be violating public accommodation laws. There is a dialectic legal tension between freedom of religious expression, guaranteed by the First Amendment and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and protections against discrimination in the provision of goods and services, guaranteed by Title II. Unfortunately, the intersection of these rights is ill-defined and unclear, and often dependent on latent variables like jurisdiction. When these statutory arenas collide, it has resulted in dramatic court cases that become media events. Amped up by activists on both sides, this coverage has elevated public consciousness of the issues but has done little to guide religious business leaders, who need pragmatic policy advice. This study attempts to help fill this knowledge gap through a systematic literature review that synthesizes legal requirements and lessons learned from the latest academic literature, case law, and industry publications. After a primer on the relevant law, this article uses specific cases as illustrations to illuminate the boundaries between free religious expression, prohibited customer discrimination, and the large, dangerous middle zone that can lead to painful lawsuits.