Ronald Hittle was laid off as fire chief of Stockton, Calif., after facing allegations of misconduct, including an anonymous letter describing him as a “corrupt, racist, lying, religious fanatic.” One of the issues that led to his termination: he had attended, with other managers, a church-sponsored summit for Christian leaders during work hours.
Hittle tried to sue, arguing he was fired because of his Christian religion, but lower courts said he didn’t have a strong enough case to go to trial.
Hittle, though, contends the test the Supreme Court established more than 50 years ago for evaluating workplace discrimination allegations needs to be reexamined.
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take his case, skirting a potential showdown over religion in in the workplace during a year that the Court is testing the limits of religion in schools, and religion-related tax exemptions.
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