A longtime captain with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, who oversees certain lifeguard stations and patrols, is suing his employer, saying the fire department has trampled his religious rights by attempting to force him to ignore his Christian moral beliefs and raise a so-called "Progress Pride" flag in front of his lifeguard station, and then threatened and retaliated against him when he sought an exemption, leading to at least one threat of murder and rape against him and his family.
On May 24, Los Angeles County Fire Department Captain Jeffrey Little filed suit in Los Angeles federal court against the fire department, as well as Section Chief Arthur Lester, Lifeguard Division Chief Fernando Boiteux and Assistant Lifeguard Chief Adam Uehara.
The lawsuit accuses the defendants of violations of Little's First Amendment rights to religious freedom and free speech; violations of federal civil rights law; illegal religious discrimination; and illegal retaliation, as well as violations of Little's rights under the California state constitution.
Attorney Paul Jonna
| LiMandri & Jonna
The lawsuit centers on actions the L.A. Fire Department and Little's commanding officers allegedly took against him after Little requested a religious exemption from an L.A. County and fire department mandate to fly the so-called "Progress Pride" flag at the lifeguard station he oversees during the month of June, known as "Pride Month" in recognition of the celebration of LGBTQ+ and other non-heterosexual and traditional gender individuals.
According to the complaint, Little is a "devout Evangelical Christian who adheres to traditional Christian beliefs" regarding human sexuality, gender identity and "that all people are children of God regardless of their skin color."
He is also a 22-year veteran with the L.A. Fire Department's Lifeguard Division, where the complaint said he has saved "countless lives."
However, in the spring and summer of 2023, Little allegedly came under disciplinary scrutiny amid a clash with his superiors over orders to raise the "Progress Pride" flag at the Dockweiler lifeguard station.
The conflict began in March 2023, when the L.A. County Board of Supervisors passed a measure mandating the flag be flown at all county government facilities during the month of June.
The fire department then issued an order directing captains overseeing the department's various stations to ensure the flag is properly raised, lowered, handled and stored.
The "Progress Pride" flag was established in 2019, as an amalgamation of various versions of the so-called "Pride" flag. The flag was created by left-wing organizations and incorporates stripes of various colors, purportedly representing a host of sexuality and gender identities, including gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, asexual and more, as well as brown stripes representing black and Latino people.
In his complaint, Little notes the societal messages expressed by the "Progress Pride" flag conflict with the traditional Christian morality and beliefs he and other conservative orthodox Christians profess.
"The views commonly associated with the Progress Pride Flag on marriage, sex, and family are in direct conflict with Captain Little's bona fide and sincerely held religious beliefs on the same subjects," Little wrote in his lawsuit. "His bona fide and sincerely held religious beliefs require him to reject those views."
With this in mind, Little requested an exemption from the orders and mandates, asserting to raise the flag would signify his agreement with those contrary messages. He asked the fire department to allow someone at his station other than him to take charge of the flag, including its raising and lowering.
However, according to the complaint, the fire department ultimately denied that exemption request, with superior officers allegedly telling him his religious beliefs were irrelevant.
According to the complaint, Chief Lester personally visited the Dockweiler lifeguard station allegedly to ensure the flagpole was properly equipped and fitted to fly the "Progress Pride" flag, and directly ordered Little to raise the flag.
The department that same day then refused Little's request to use paid time off until the end of June, allegedly requested in a bid to avoid the conflict.
And the next day, Boiteux personally visited the Dockweiler station and allegedly again ordered him to fly the flag.
"When doing so, (Boiteux) told Captain Little that 'You need to stop what you are doing,' 'You are an LA County employee; that's the only thing that matters,' and 'Your religious beliefs do not matter; you are an LA County employee,'" Boiteux allegedly said in that conversation, according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, he allegedly repeated such assertions "multiple times ... in an instance of religious discrimination combined with physical intimidation ... in a violent and angry manner."
Little asserts his commanding officers further retaliated against him by allegedly taking him off a special background investigation unit, which investigates emergency incidents. According to the complaint, this cost Little "significant loss of overtime, income and prestige."
Little asserts the department also violated his rights to employment-related privacy, asserting people within the department allegedly discussed his case and requests for religious exemption with "unauthorized recipients." That allegedly led to him receiving at least one written death threat, in which unidentified individuals threatened to rape his daughters and murder him.
"Your hate won't be tolerated," the note allegedly read. "We know where you live and work. You better pay respect to our pride flag or we will f*** you up. We know about your cute little girls and aren't afraid to rape the s*** out of them if you don't honor us. You are a fascist pig and deserve to die."
According to the complaint, Little later filed complaints with the department regarding his treatment, but was told the department did not believe he had been mistreated.
Further, the department allegedly opened several investigations into Little's conduct, allegedly in response to internal complaints.
According to the lawsuit, these were all "pretextual investigations" launched in retaliation for seeking a religious exemption in the face of direct orders from his commanding officers.
According to the complaint, the fire department has since resisted or ignored all efforts by Little to resolve the conflict without going to court, leading to him filing the lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, Little is asking the court to order the LA County Fire Department to reinstate him to all roles from which he was removed in 2023, and remove all negative filings from his personnel file which could preclude his ability to earn promotions or pay increases.
He is also seeking $495,000 in compensatory damages, including back pay, lost overtime and compensation for emotional distress, plus unspecified punitive damages for the alleged religious discrimination and retaliation.
Little is represented in the action by attorney attorney Paul M. Jonna, of the firm of LiMandri & Jonna,of Fairbanks Ranch. Jonna is serving as special counsel with the Thomas More Society, along with attorneys Charles S. LiMandri, Jeffrey M. Trissell and Joshua A. Youngkin.
“Captain Jeffrey Little is an upstanding American, a devout Christian father, and a public servant who has honorably served the Los Angeles County Fire Department for over 22 years. He courageously stood on principle and asked for a simple religious accommodation - which he is rightfully and legally due - only to be first denied, then threatened, harassed, discriminated and retaliated against for his widely shared Christian religious beliefs," said Jonna, in a statement released announcing the lawsuit.
"In our great country, Americans can’t even be forced to salute the American flag as a condition of government employment. Yet, in this case, the L.A. County Fire Department seeks to force Captain Little to personally raise the Progress Pride Flag in violation of his sincere and deeply held religious beliefs - or face termination.
"The L.A. County Fire Department’s actions are not only deeply un-American, but also flagrantly illegal. We’ve filed this federal lawsuit to vindicate Captain Little’s religious liberty rights and to firmly establish that this sort of blatant religious discrimination has no place in our public life.”