Houston Judge Files Federal Lawsuit to Avoid Watching LGBT-Diversity Training Video

[TexasTowelie]

You might say he needs a safe space or a trigger warning: Judge Gary Suttles, who works for the Social Security Administration, is suing to prevent his employers from taking disciplinary action against him for repeatedly refusing to watch a 17-minute mandatory training video on diversity and LGBT awareness issues.

The Houston-based judge filed in a Texas federal court on Thursday in an attempt to save his job before a federal panel can hear his objections based on the First Amendment and religious protections under the Civil Rights Act.

“The agency has wholly failed to work in good faith to reasonably accommodate Judge Suttles’ sincerely held religious belief against watching” the video, the complaint says.

The agency violated his rights, the complaint says, “by discriminating against him on the basis of his religion, creating a religiously hostile work environment,” and by “retaliating against him for his protected activity of seeking a religious accommodation.”

The video stems from a 2011 Obama administration directive to its federal agencies to provide for diversity and inclusion in their interactions with the public they serve. The SSA sent out an e-mail last May pointing its employees to a 17-minute video entitled “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Community” that offered “a brief session on tips for increasing cultural awareness in a diverse and inclusive environment.”

Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/2017/02/gary-suttles/