An auto mechanic for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency in Tucson says in a lawsuit that the agency and fellow employees are discriminating against him because he's a Christian.
David Stanford, who's worked for the CBP's Tucson Sector Garage for about two years, says co-workers ridicule him and play "extraordinarily loud music" because of his religion. The agency has passed him up for a couple of promotions, giving the jobs to "non-Christians" and supervisors are overly scrutinizing him, says the lawsuit. (See below.)
The harassers are non-believers and Catholics who "evidently" think his beliefs are too extreme, Stanford says when we reach him today.
The lawsuit doesn't state specifically what his antagonizers did, but Stanford says one proof of anti-religious bigotry is that anti-Christian cartoons from the Internet were taped to his workspace, he says.
Hmm. This is obviously not persecution on a Roman scale. But Stanford insists that his co-workers did even worse things to him. He's also suing on the basis of age discrimination.
Unfortunately, he cut the conversation short after mentioning that he probably ought to talk to his lawyer before giving us a full interview.
"It's all going to come out in the trial," he says.
Stanford's still working for the garage. He wants unspecified damages and a court order that'll stop the harassment.
No turning the other cheek on this one.
