Craig James filed suit this week against Fox Sports Southwest (and affiliated companies) for discriminating against him based on his religion when it fired him for earlier comments he made in support of natural marriage when campaigning for the U.S. Senate.
Soon after his firing, James acquired legal representation with our friends at Liberty Institute, and filed a complaint of religious discrimination that proceeded through a state law administrative process. That process is now complete, paving the way for him to file a legal complaint in state court.
If it is shown that James' religious beliefs were a motivating factor in the decision to fire him, he has a successful case of religious discrimination. In his complaint, James alleges that Fox Sport specifically "informed [him] that they terminated him for his statement" in support of natural marriage: "I'm a guy that believes in a man and a woman ... Adam and Eve -- and what the Bible says." James made several other statements at this time affirming his opposition to same-sex marriage, noting that people will have to answer to God, and that Christians need to stand up for marriage.
After firing him, Fox Sports Southwest told the media that James "couldn't say those things here." James also alleges that Fox Sports Southwest unlawfully breached its contract with him and has still not paid him for work he performed almost two years ago.
In the complaint, he also points out the ridiculous behavior of Fox Sports Southwest, which circulated an article stereotyping James, assuming he's motivated by antipathy to gay people. But as James points out, his Christian faith, with its tenets of how God created human relationships, is the very thing which causes him to love all fellow mankind. He also points out that he employed an openly-gay chief political consultant -- a fact seemingly missed by Fox Sports Southwest in its rush to caricature him. James has no anger towards gay people, but believes all people deserve love and respect regardless of their views. As he points out, he even has "personal friends, family members, and professional colleagues on both sides of marriage and family issues, some of whom are themselves gay, lesbian, and transgender."
Fox Sports Southwest refuses to remove the blinders of political correctness and perceive the man for who he really is.
Let us hope that the courts are able to peer through this charade and see that Fox Sports Southwest discriminated against Craig James because of his religious beliefs.
