Dive Brief:
- The Los Angeles County Fire Department allegedly discriminated and retaliated against a captain who requested a religious exemption from flying the Progress Pride flag during June, a May 24 lawsuit (filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California) claimed. The evangelical Christian lifeguard said “his religious beliefs did not allow him to raise the Progress Pride Flag,” according to the complaint.
- The captain’s request was initially granted; he was moved to a site not displaying the flag, the lawsuit said. However, a section chief modified the flagpoles at those sites, allowing them to display the Pride flags. The captain took down the flags but was later told his religious accommodation had been revoked and was ordered to raise a flag he had lowered, per the lawsuit.
- The captain filed a County Policy of Equity administrative complaint with the fire department for religious discrimination and harassment. Separately, he was informed he was subject to an internal administrative investigation for lowering the flag during his shift, per the lawsuit. The fire department told HR Dive via email that it “cannot comment” on personnel issues “or any ongoing litigations.”
Dive Insight:
Workers continue to sue employers over alleged discrimination when company policies are at odds with their religious beliefs.
In May, California’s Jurupa Unified School District agreed to pay $360,000 to settle a wrongful termination lawsuit after a teacher said the district refused to accommodate her Christian rights after it fired her for not following gender-affirming policies, such as calling transgender students by their preferred pronouns.
In March, a federal judge in North Dakota ruled that federal agencies can’t force Christian employers to pay for or provide gender transition services.
And in January, Trinity Health Grand Rapids, a hospital and health system in Michigan, agreed to pay $50,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging religious discrimination after the system denied a candidate a religious-based exemption to its flu shot requirement and then rescinded the candidate’s job offer.
The ways LGBTQ and religious rights intersect likely will continue to be a tricky legal area for companies to navigate as they look at accommodations, an attorney previously told HR Dive.
