A man who served with the Los Angeles County Fire Department for more than 20 years is suing the department, claiming that superiors forced him to fly the LGBTQ flag at a lifeguard stand at Will Rogers Beach in Pacific Palisades and then retaliated against him when he refused.
In March 2023, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution requiring all county-managed buildings to fly the “Progress Pride Flag” during the month of June, also known as Pride Month. Three months later, Jeffrey Little, a lifeguard captain for the Los Angeles County Fire Department who has been with the department for 22 years, requested an exemption from the requirement to fly the flag at his lifeguard station because he is a Christian with traditional beliefs regarding the equality of all people regardless of sex, marriage or race. Christian Post report.
“Let’s get someone else to hold the flag.”
be statement Following a request from the Thomas More Society, a legal nonprofit that represents Little, LACoFD initially granted Little’s request, assuring him that he did not have to raise the flag himself or have someone else raise the flag during the month of June in accordance with the county’s resolution.
That assurance didn’t last long: On June 21, 2023, just two days after granting Little’s request, the department withdrew from the agreement.
The department then allegedly subjected Little to harassment and retaliation for his beliefs. The day after the accommodations were revoked, Chief Fernand Boiteau gave Little a direct order to raise the flag, according to federal court documents. Litigation “You are an employee of the County of Los Angeles and that’s all that matters,” Boiteau reportedly told Little, who filed a lawsuit on his behalf late last month. “Your religious beliefs don’t matter.”
When Little still refused, he was removed from the police department’s background check division and later threatened with termination, the TMS statement said. He and his daughters even received death threats after someone at the department leaked his accommodation request to an unauthorized person.
In his lawsuit, Little seeks reinstatement to the police investigative unit, compensation for lost wages and other damages, the removal of all negative comments on his permanent record related to LGBTQ flag issues, and a permanent guarantee that he will not have to fly the flag in the future.
Paul Jonah of TMS thinks the case is pretty straightforward. “It’s a very easy accommodation and a very simple solution for devout Christians to ask for an accommodation so they don’t have to fly the flag themselves – just get someone else to fly the flag,” Jonah told The Christian Post. “We need to protect devout Christians. We need a strong precedent to protect them, but the law already provides those protections.”
The fire department declined a request for comment from The Post. National Desk.
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