The former lead chaplain of the Austin, TX Fire Department is suing the department and the city after being terminated for blog posts.
Dr. Andrew Fox, an ordained minister who had served in the volunteer chaplain position for the past eight years and is credited with helping to start the department chaplaincy program, was relieved of his work in December. Fox posted on his blog last summer about his religious belief that “men and women are created biologically distinct and his view that men should not compete on women’s sports teams.” Fox alleges that he was fired for sharing his blog’s religious views on sex and gender.
Austin Fire Officials, including Chief Joel Barker, met with Fox several times to discuss concerns they were hearing from the local LGBTQ community. Fox was urged to retract the statement. In addition to retracting his opinion, Chief Barker wanted Fox to issue an apology for expressing his personal views and addressing the harm they caused. He was eventually terminated for refusing to participate in any retraction or apology. Fox claims that his rights to free speech were violated when he was terminated for expressing his opinion.
The lawsuit seeks reinstatement, an affirmation that the city of Austin violated Fox’s first amendment rights, damages for the same violation, and the town to cover Fox’s attorney fees and other related legal expenses.
The city of Austin, TX, issued the following statement: “The City of Austin heard of the lawsuit through the news media but has not received a lawsuit yet. When we do, we’ll follow our normal process to respond to a lawsuit against the city.”
