Wed, Nov 23, 2011
Former Employee Says Firing Was Based on Conversations At
Work
A Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge ruled November 18 that
a jury will decide whether NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL)
unlawfully discriminated against a former employee for discussing
the scientific theory of intelligent design (ID) at work.
According to the Discovery Institute, David Coppedge, a 14-year
JPL veteran and team lead computer administrator on the Cassini
Mission to Saturn, was demoted for lending ID-related DVDs to
coworkers, behavior that one JPL complainant called "harassment,"
and another branded "pushing religion." After he filed suit to
vindicate his free expression rights, JPL terminated Coppedge.
The plaintiff will contend that evidence shows JPL demoted and
terminated Coppedge because he expressed a pro-intelligent-design
scientific viewpoint disliked at JPL and labeled "religion" by JPL
decision-makers.
"The Court's ruling allows a jury to vindicate David Coppedge's
rights," said Joshua Youngkin, a legal affairs policy analyst with
Discovery Institute. "California law forbids employers who view an
employee's expression as religion to punish or diminish the
employee on that basis. Although ID is not religion, it can't be
singled out by JPL or other employers in this way..."the upcoming
JPL trial will remind employers that it is costly to discriminate
against ID in the workplace."
In its ruling, the court found there "are triable issues of fact
as to whether Plaintiff's demotion, written warning, negative
performance evaluations, and ultimate termination were adverse
employment actions" which involved discrimination. Coppedge is
represented by William J. Becker, Jr. of The Becker Law Firm, who
was supported in the case by Alliance Defense Fund.
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