John Freshwater, a public school science teacher in Ohio, was dismissed from his job for improperly introducing religion in the classroom, and for failing to remove religious items from the room as instructed by the school principal. Howard Friedman writes that, with an administrative hearing pending next week to review the firing, Freshwater has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging – among other things – religious discrimination in violation of the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act.
The suit claims that Freshwater was discriminated against because of personal religious beliefs and maintains the board took action to terminate Freshwater’s teaching contract simply because he kept a Bible on his desk.
The board has said its decision was based on an investigative report by an independent firm which concluded that Freshwater caused physical harm to a student during a science experiment, overstepped his bounds as a monitor of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, promoted particular religious beliefs in the classroom while denigrating others and was insubordinate in refusing to follow directives from school administrators.
You can read the complaint (pdf) here. Freshwater is seeking $1 million in damages.
