ACLJ Files Complaint Against Nevada for Discriminating Against Our Client Banning Christian Fish Symbol in Her Signature Line

As we told you last month, the ACLJ continues the fight against Nevada’s discriminatory treatment of our client. And with the recent Supreme Court decision Groff v. DeJoy, we are one step closer to a victory.

Our client, who works for Nevada Vocational Rehabilitation (NVR), a government agency, expressed her faith by including a Christian fish symbol next to her email signature after noting that several others were including symbols and self-descriptors in their emails. However, she was the only one required to remove her expression in her signature line because another employee felt “offended” by her expression of faith.

The ACLJ sent her government employer a demand letter stating that NVR violated our client’s First Amendment right to free speech and religious expression and discriminated against her for expressing her viewpoint. Instead of responding to our letter, the government doubled down and created a new signature policy stating that no symbols were allowed on external emails while clarifying that this policy does not exclude personal descriptors, such as “she/her.” In fact, on a call with the ACLJ, NVR again asserted that our client’s fish symbol expressed her Christian faith, which offended others, and is still prohibited on external emails.

We immediately filed a claim of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), arguing that our client’s statement of religious affiliation is no different than the personal affiliation indicated with pronouns and that Nevada is prohibiting her religious viewpoint in violation of the Constitution and Title VII. (Title VII holds that employees may not be treated differently or subjected to harassment because of their religious beliefs or practices.)

As we wait for the EEOC to provide a “Right to Sue Letter” to bring a case in federal court, we are confident in our client’s claim given last month’s Supreme Court decision in DeJoy. There, the Court once again reaffirmed that employers (especially government employers) must not show animus toward religion:

A hardship that is attributable to employee animosity to a particular religion, to religion in general, or to the very notion of accommodating religious practice, cannot be considered “undue.” Bias or hostility to a religious practice or accommodation cannot supply a defense.

Thus, Nevada cannot show biased hostility toward our client’s religious expression, even though someone was offended, without violating Title VII.

The ACLJ is in it for the long haul and will vigorously defend our client every step of the way.

This type of invidious, anti-Christian discrimination is something we are seeing crop up across the country. We’re in the middle of a similar lawsuit in Virginia where a state agency targeted a Christian real estate agent for having “Jesus loves you” and John 3:16 in her email signature and on her website. If you find yourself in a similar situation, don’t let your employer get away with discrimination by contacting us at ACLJ.org/help.