Counsellor Sues After Suspension For Taking Teens To Religious Performance

The Orange County Register and a press release from Pacific Justice Institute report on a religious discrimination lawsuit begun in Orange County (CA) last week. The suit was filed in Superior Court by a counsellor employed by the county-owned Orangewood Children's Home. It charges that plaintiff was suspended for six weeks without pay for taking four teens to an "unapproved religious activity." In June 2006, Counsellor Maureen Loya first took the teens to the Anaheim 5K, but the girls did not like the loud music. So Loya then took them to Huntington Beach Pier's Celebrity Surf Jam where one of the featured bands was playing contemporary Christian music. Last week's lawsuit was filed after first being screened by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.