"Batman, promoted to senior civil engineer in 2015, supervises the county's flood-control and stormwater facilities from an office in suburban Alhambra, and has an "exemplary" employment record, his lawyers said. They said he was away from work when the county first ordered the flag displayed at all its offices in June 2023, but for the last two years was told by his employers to take the back entrance to the building that month, in order to avoid seeing the flag hanging from the front."
"Batman's attorneys, Daniel Schmid of the evangelical legal group Liberty Counsel and Nicolai Cocis, a private lawyer in Riverside County, said that working in the building while the flag is displayed violates their client's "sincerely held religious beliefs, derived from the teachings in the Holy Bible, that homosexuality is a sin and that he should not celebrate it.""
"In its 2024 resolution ordering the flags displayed on county buildings, the Board of Supervisors cited the "many challenges that (LGBT residents) face, from having access to critical healthcare services to being able to afford housing to feeling safe as they walk down the streets.""
Eric Batman, a 24-year county engineer with an exemplary record, filed a federal lawsuit challenging the county's refusal to allow him to work remotely in June when the Pride flag is displayed. Batman's legal team argues that displaying the flag violates his sincerely held religious beliefs derived from biblical teachings that homosexuality is sinful. For the past two years, Batman was instructed to use the back entrance to avoid seeing the flag and was advised to seek mental health counseling. The county's 2024 resolution cited challenges faced by LGBT residents regarding healthcare, housing, and safety. Batman's attorneys contend that other county employees have received religious accommodations, making the denial of his request unconstitutional and unlawful.
Read at San Francisco Chronicle
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]