Christian Lifeguard Sues L.A. County Fire Department for Religious Discrimination Over Pride Flag

In March 2023, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution requiring all county-operated facilities fly the Progress Pride Flag during the month of June.

In June 2023, Captain Jeffrey Little requested a religious accommodation that would exempt him from personally participating in the required raising of the Progress Pride Flag in accordance with the county board’s resolution. On June 19, 2023, the Los Angeles County Fire Department initially granted Little’s request and promised him that he would neither have to raise the Progress Pride Flag himself, nor personally ensure that the flag is raised at his station. Little’s religious accommodation was rescinded two days later on June 21, 2023.

Little filed a federal lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which illegally threatened Little with dismissal over his refusal to raise the “Progress Pride Flag,” his attorneys say.

The case, filed on May 24, 2024, in United States District Court, charges the Fire Department with violating Little’s rights under the First Amendment, federal, and state law. According to Thomas More Society attorneys who are representing Captain Little, his sincere and deeply held religious beliefs prohibit his participation in raising the Progress Pride Flag. For that, he has suffered religious discrimination, harassment, and retaliation at the hands of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the attorneys say.

Almost immediately after Little’s religious accommodation was revoked, Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel engaged in illegal retaliation and harassment against Little, the lawsuit says. His supervising officers ordered him to raise the Progress Pride Flag. In issuing a direct order to Little on June 22, 2023, Division Chief Fernando Boiteux told him, “You are an LA County employee, that’s the only thing that matters,” and, “Your religious beliefs do not matter.”

“The next day, Little was subsequently removed from his Fire Department role on the background investigation unit. The Department then revealed to unauthorized persons that Little had requested a religious accommodation. Following that disclosure, Little received a death threat that also targeted his daughters.”

In February 2024, Little was notified that he violated the “County Policy of Equity,” which states:

“The purpose of this Policy is to preserve the dignity, integrity, respect, and professionalism of the workplace as well as to protect the right of all employees to be free from discrimination, sexual harassment, harassment (other than sexual), retaliation and inappropriate conduct toward others based on a state or federal protected characteristic.”

Notably, the County Policy of Equity states:

The County will not tolerate discrimination on the basis of:

• religious creed (including religious dress and grooming practices)

The County Policy of Equity also states:

“The County will not tolerate retaliation for filing a complaint under the Policy or similar State or Federal Law, for participating in an administrative investigation or proceeding under the Policy, for performing duties under the Policy, or for otherwise opposing conduct prohibited by the Policy.”

The Lifeguard Division is huge: “It is the largest professional lifeguard service in the world, protecting 72 miles of coastline, 31 miles of sandy beaches, operating 24 lifeguard stations, 159 lifeguard towers, 8 rescue boats, and employing 174 full-time lifeguards and 614 recurrent lifeguards, and in 2021, the Lifeguard Division watched over 51 million beach attendees, and made over 9,000 ocean rescues,” the lawsuit says.

The federal lawsuit, filed on behalf of Captain Little by Thomas More Society attorneys, comes as a result of the Fire Department’s continued failure to accommodate Little’s religious beliefs, as required by the United States Constitution, federal, and state civil rights law. The verified complaint seeks damages, a temporary restraining order, and a permanent injunction—protecting Little’s religious rights during Pride Month.

“Captain Jeffrey Little is an upstanding American, a devout Christian father, and a public servant who has honorably served the Los Angeles County Fire Department for over 22 years.” said Paul Jonna, Thomas More Society Special Counsel and Partner at LiMandri & Jonna LLP. “He courageously stood on principle and asked for a simple religious accommodation—which he is rightfully and legally due—only to be first denied, then threatened, harassed, discriminated and retaliated against for his widely shared Christian religious beliefs. In our great country, Americans can’t even be forced to salute the American flag as a condition of government employment. Yet, in this case, the L.A. County Fire Department seeks to force Captain Little to personally raise the Progress Pride Flag in violation of his sincere and deeply held religious beliefs—or face termination. The L.A. County Fire Department’s actions are not only deeply un-American, but also flagrantly illegal. We’ve filed this federal lawsuit to vindicate Captain Little’s religious liberty rights and to firmly establish that this sort of blatant religious discrimination has no place in our public life.”

You can read the lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, on behalf of Captain Jeffrey Little in Captain Jeffrey Little v. Los Angeles County Fire Department, et al., here [https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/63d954d4e4ad424df7819d46/665752d67f06e9a4c42c4a50_US_DIS_CACD_COMPLAINT.pdf]. 

For more information, link to thomasmoresociety.org