The Los Angeles Fire Department recently agreed to a partial exemption for a Christian lifeguard who filed a lawsuit for alleged religious discrimination. According to reports, the department will not require Jeffrey Little to be personally responsible for raising or lowering a progress pride flag.
Little, an Evangelical Christian, initially filed a lawsuit after he was allegedly punished for refusing to fly the LGBT flag at his lifeguard station last summer. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution in March 2023 that required all county facilities to fly the progress flag during the month of June.
Subsequently, Little requested an exemption because he “adheres to traditional Christian beliefs regarding the moral illicitness of same-sex activity, the immutability of sex regardless of gender identity, and the view that all people are children of God regardless of their skin color.”
“The views commonly associated with the Progress Pride flag on marriage, sex, and family are in direct conflict with Captain Little’s bona fide and sincerely held religious beliefs on the same subjects,” his lawsuit stated.
However, the Christian lifeguard faced retaliation from his superiors for his objections to the Pride initiative. “You are an LA County employee; that’s the only thing that matters,” Division Chief Fernando Boiteux reportedly told Little. Your religious beliefs do not matter.”
The Thomas More Society, the nonprofit law firm representing Little, released a statement giving an update on the partial exemption granted to Little. “The Los Angeles County Fire Department has agreed to partially accommodate lifeguard Captain Jeffrey Little for his religious beliefs and not require him to raise the ‘Progress Pride Flag’ as a part of his job for the remainder of June, which they have designated as ‘Pride Month.’ This partial concession follows a federal lawsuit brought on Little’s behalf, by Thomas More Society attorneys, against the Department after months of the county’s stonewalling,” the press release read.
The statement continued, “The Fire Department has made assurances that Little would not be personally responsible for the raising or lowering of the Progress Pride Flag, because he either will be assigned to stations that are unable to fly the Progress Pride Flag throughout June, or he will be able to trade shifts to such stations.”
Despite the concession made to Little, the Thomas More Society points out that he still has not been given the full exemption as requested in the lawsuit. The lawsuit charges the Fire Department with violating Little’s rights under the First Amendment, federal, and state law. Little’s sincere and deeply held religious beliefs prohibit his participation in raising the Progress Pride Flag. While the Fire Department’s partial accommodation assuages Little’s immediate concerns, it does not provide full and complete protection for his religious beliefs,” the nonprofit added.
Little released a personal statement expressing his desire for the lawsuit to spark a “productive dialogue” about faith and the workplace. “My hope is that this lawsuit encourages productive dialogue between employees of faith and their employers,” Little said. No employee should be expected to abandon their faith when entering the workplace and unfortunately, I felt backed into a corner where my faith was incompatible with the requirements of my job.”
Featured image credit: The Thomas More Society