An ordained Christian minister who has been a volunteer fire department chaplain in Austin, Texas filed suit in a Texas federal district court yesterday alleging that his free speech and free exercise rights were violated when the fire department terminated him as a chaplain because of his social media posts. The complaint (full text) in Fox v. City of Austin, (WD TX, filed 8/18/2022), alleges in part:
Dr. Andrew K. Fox ... helped start Austin’s fire chaplaincy program and served as its lead chaplain—a volunteer position—for eight years. That abruptly changed when Dr. Fox posted something on his personal blog that Austin officials considered unacceptable: his religious belief that men and women are created biologically distinct and his view that men should not compete on women’s sports teams. After Austin officials demanded that Dr. Fox recant and apologize for expressing these beliefs and Dr. Fox refused, they terminated him....
Under the City’s standard, no one who openly holds historic Christian beliefs about the immutable differences between men and women can serve as a chaplain or in any other fire department position.... When the government can needlessly punish people for professing views outside of work on matters of ongoing public debate, that chills everyone’s speech and discourages democratic participation.
ADF issued a press release announcing the lawsuit.
